Vol. VIII April 1955 No, 3 Arcade, New York Katherine Barnes, Town

32 Pages·2010·3.15 MB·English

Vol. VIII April 1955
No, 3 Arcade, New York
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Katherine Barnes, Town Historian
VanArsdale House, Castile, dating from 1817
(Photo from Mary VanArsdale Greene)
Castile's oldest house Is the charming colonial home, known as
the Davis-VanArsdale place at 32 Main Street, Since the house was
built in l8l7> it has been in the hands of only three families and
so has escaped much of the remodeling that often destroys the archi-
tectual beauty of early American homes. Also, it is still in the
original setting. The spacious lawn in front, dotted with century-
old trees; the gardens in the rear, joined by winding paths and
bordered by flowering shrubs and colorful flower beds; the grape ar-
bor, the Summer house, and the dignified old carriage house, are all
(continued on page 66)
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HISTORICAL WYOMING
Published quarterly at Arcacle, New York, under sponsorship of the
Wyoming County Board of Supervisors, by Harry S Douglass, County
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Historian; Robert V/. McGowan, Associate Editor, and Students of
Arcade Central School
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
there. Located as it is in the very heart of the village, and with
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the bustling activity of a small town Main Street, flowing past its
door, this beautiful old place retains the mellowness and charm that
are associated with things of the past, that have been loved and
cared for throughout many generations.
Z-iba Hurd
Not only was this house the first one built in Castile, it was
also built by its first settler, Ziba Hurd. When Mr. Hurd came down
the Allegany Road in 1816, no settlements had been made in what is
now the village of Castile. Not even the Indians'had made a clear-
ing in the dense forest that covered this region^ That fall, Mr,
Hurd built a temporary log shelter across the street from where the
VanArsdale house now stands, and cleared two or three acres prepara-
tory to building a frame house in the spr'ngc
At this time the family consisted of two daughters, Eliza, born
in l807; Hannah, born in 1806; and a son, Norman, born in l808 His
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wife, Sally Gilbert, was born in Bennington, Vermont,in 1786. Mr.
Hurd was born in Tinmouth, Rutland Co*, Vermont, May 22, 1785c There
were tiro other daughters later, one of whom married a Mr. Scott, and
the other married Samuel Stanard. Jonathan, the youngest son, was
born in 1820. Mr, Hurd's mother came with the Hurd family to Cas-
tile,, She was only forty-eight at that time
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The northern partf^of the house (at the right in the photo) is
the original part which Ziba Hurd built in 1817, and was early Amer-
ican in style. With the exception of a few nails used in the shing-
les, there were no nails used in the construction of the house,. It
was put together with wooden pins and covered with planks which ran
vertically instead of horizontally, as was customary* If you go in-
to the basement today, you can see the heavy wide beams that were
used in its construction On some of these are carved dates when
the house was remodeled or changed hands.
While Mr. Hurd was building his house, he was also clearing
land in the northern part of the village so that he could plant
wheat and flax. That spring he also made maple sugar which he
boiled down in potash kettles, brought from Vermont the fall before.
He also built a saw mill, started an ashery and a fulling mill to
which he soon added a carding machine* He had purchased lj_Ou acres
on lots 50, 51 and a part of of the Cottringer Tract, which had
been put on the market that very year. The next year, other men
drifted into the new village or settled on the Allegany Road, some
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April 1955 Page 6 9
A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
Photo taken about the year 1881. The
portion of the house with the pillars
(right) is the original residence built
by Ziba Hurd in 1817, the first frame
dwelling built in the Village of Cestile.
The part of the house to the left was
built in 1842 by Mr.Hurd after the death
of his first wife and his remarriage.
James H. VanArsdale is standing just be-
yond the carriage, while Giles Davis and
members of his family are beyond the
fence.
(Photo from Mary VanArsdale Sreeije)
of whom he hired to help him. With the help of two other commis-
sioners, he straightened the road to Perry. When Castile was set
off from Perry in lo21, he became its first Supervisor. And. when
Castile began to receive mail once a week, as it came through from
Leicester to Olean, Ziba Hurd was its first post master. He contin-
ued to play a leading role, selling lots to newcomers, helping to
build the first school houses and the first churches. With indefa-
tigable energy, ho promoted, encouraged and aided all the efforts
that were made to get a foothold in the wilderness
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• On January 16, 181^.1, his wife Sally died, aged and Ziba
married Mary Center that same year. And now the house began to take
on a new look, for it was this year that Mr. Hurd built the upright
part of the house. He seems to have spared'no .expense. The rooms
were light and spacious, with ample fireplaces. The woodwork was
•ii (continued on page 68)
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
beautifully carved with the tulip design. Most of Castile's best
houses were built between the year l8i]_0 and 1850, for this was the
period when the population of the town reached its peak, 2,833« We
imagine that Ziba Hurd's newly remodeled house set the pace for
those that followedo
There are no records to tell what happened during the next ele-
ven years. But in l85>ij. the curtain falls, and this ambitious, ener-
getic and kindly man took his own life in the home of his son-in-law
Anson Howard, who had married his daughter Hannah. One wonders if
he had not expended himself to the point where ill health had taken
its toll as happened in the case of so many hard-working and bril-
liant men of that period—Joseph Ellicott for instance. Sarah Sny-
der, who had known Ziba Hurd in her youth, speaks of his kind, ben-
evolent face, and says he was much respected and greatly loved by
the people of Castile,,
The family almost immediately sold the"home and went to Wiscon-
sin, apparently because of shock and grief The widow lived ten
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years longer, dying on November 25, l861|.. The youngest son, Jona-
than, died the next year, in l86£. Norman lived to be 88, and died
November 17* 1896. With the exception of a few years in the West,
he lived most of his life in Castile. Eliza, who had married Cyren-
us Belden, died in Galesburg, Illinois, October 28, l880 And then,,
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according to the deed which is still in existence, the home passed
into the hands of
Pudge George Wheeler
George Wheeler was a man of great ability and achievement He
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was born on November 8, 1790, the son of Jesse and Polly Wheeler, in
Keene, New Hampshire. As a youth, he learned the trade of wool
carding and cloth dressing,, In 1818, he came to Lisle, Broome Co«
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No Yo, where he followed his trade. In l8ij.8, he owned and operated
the old stone mill at Lamont that was a county landmark so many
yearso He was first married to Miss Betsey Sartwell in 1823 and
they had four children,, She died in 1861 and the next year he mar-
ried'Miss Tirzah Gould of Nunda„ She died in Castile, October 1L|.„
l879<> In Lisle, he had been justice of the peace, and also Associ-
ate Judge of Broome County, and so had been known as Judge Wheeler®
He was also known as General Wheeler for he had been a Brigadier
General of Militia. He was a member of the Legislature and a post-
master while in Broome County. He lived in Pike two years and was
connected with the mills there before he came to Castile. It was
quite to be expected that a man of his background would want to buy
the most imposing house in Castile. He owned it eleven years and
then it passed into the hands of
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Giles A. Davis
Giles A. Davis, the son of Joel and Resign Hinman Davis, came
to Castile from Gainesville, bringing with him his wife, Mary Jane
Stevens, whom he had married nineteen years before; his daughter
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
Clara, who was eighteen that year, and his only son, Edward, who was
fourteen. Also with him came his aged father, Joel Davis, who was
eighty-four. Mr. Davis had been a farmer, living on the farm which
his father, Joel Davis, had purchased in 1827 when he came from Pre-
ble, Cortland County, where Giles was born.
Mr. Davis had also engaged in wood buying and stock dealing;
and for two years after he came to Castile, he continued to buy and
sell produce in partnership with J. R. Slade. Then ne began his
career of banking, a career which his son, grandsons and great-
grandsons have carried on to the present time.
In 1868, the Bank of Castile had been established as a branch
of the Bank of Avon under the management of Guy Markham, George W.
Swan and Charles C. Puffer, and went under the name of Markham, Swan
& Co. Miles Hopkins was the cashier. It was located at No. 5 North
Main Street, the present site of McCready's Bicycle Shop. On April
1, 1869, Giles Davis, in partnership with George P. Pierce, pur-
chased the bank. Both Mr. Davis and Mr. Pierce expected their sons
would assist and then take over the business. But Mr. Pierce died
soon after the bank was purchased and his son Henry did not take his
place. Mr. Davis' son Edward was in the bank a little over a year,
when he died, January 30, 1872. Mr. Davis never relinquished his
post at the bank, but kept active until his death.
Two years later, October 3, l87i+, the aged father died, age 91
years, 10 months, 26 days. On March 30, 1876, Mrs. Giles Davis died
so there was only Mr. Davis and Clara left. However, two years be-
fore, September 9, 1872, Clara had married James H. VanArsdale, but
she never left her father's home, knowing that he needed her. In
spite of all these tragic -blows which fell on Mr. Davis so swiftly,
his business prospered and all his energy and strength went into his
work. He and Mr. Piero.e were always ' congenial and agreed on the
policies which governed their business. Because of their skillful
management and wise investments, the Bank of Castile was built on a
firm foundation.
During the years that followed, we find Mr. Davis interested in
many phases of the life in Castile. He aided and promoted not only
the business transactions that would be of value to a sound banking
system, but he was interested in the cultural and relgious life of
the village. We find him at the age of seventy-four going to New
York City to find new markets for the Elitsac products which at that
time were toy cannons. And he procured a market too, for the Elit-
sac made between 20,000 and 25,000 of them In the year 1890. We
find also that he gave a sum sufficient to have the Presbyterian
Church painted® That was also in 1890. Some time before that, he
had given the marble top communion table and the silver communior.
set. When the Church burned in 1893, he was placed at the head oi
the building committee and in nine months's time there was a new
church completely paid for; the insurance was only $3,500; the rest
of the $10,330.57 had been raised during that short period by priv-
ate subscriptions.
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
Between the years 1873 and 1885* six grandchildren had come to
take up his attention and gladden the quiet home,, The oldest, Mary
Marie, was born July 29 1873; then there were twins on April 21
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18?6» Ruth and Davis; then on'November 1878, another set of
twins, Charles A. and Chester A.; and on August 2£, 1885s J. Henry
(Harry), named for his father He was greatly interested in these
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young lives and particularly in their education He himself had
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gone to the Gainesville village school, later to Perry Academy, and
later still to the Mathematical & Scientific Institute, a px'Ivate
school in Castile, taught by Davis W. Smithc Mr Davis was one of
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the people, who lacking a formal education, go on learning as long
as they live, adding to their store of knowledge in a thousand way3
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He would have been happy to know that the first of his grandsons,
and then his great-grandsons, would follow in his footsteps. Mr
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Davis lived to be eighty-one years old, dying October 13 1897® The
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Davis-VanArsdale home now became the property of
Clara Aner Resign Davis VanArsdale
Mrso VanArsdale had been educated at the Gainesville Ladies'
Seminary and at Pike Seminary* Since her mother had been an invalid
the last few years of her life, she early took upon herself the man-
agement of the household,, But that and the care of her six children
(one more, Helen, had died soon after birth) had not prevented her
from taking an active part in the affairs of the community,, She was
an ardent worker in the Presbyterian Church in all its various or-
ganizations. She was a charter member of the Wednesday Club, be-
longed to the Political Equality Club and the LeRoy Chapter of the
D.A.R. She was a member of the Cordelia A. Greene Library Associa-
tion and of the County Board of Charities. Because she was espe-
cially Interested in education, she was elected to the local school
board, Aug,, 26, 1891* She was president of both the Town and Village
Boards, and served in that capacity on the latter until her death©
In 1915* she presented land adjoining the school property to the
school to be used as an athletic field©
Her husband, J„ H. VanArsdale, had bought the furniture and
undertaking business of J. W, True. In the early days, his store
was where the Castilian office is at the present time. After the
big fire, he and Mr. Davis built the north brick block next to his
home and occupied the two floors using the former store on the other
side of the street as a warehouse. Mr. VanArsdale was a public
minded citizen and took an active part in the town's activities©
Mrs. VanArsdale had inherited her father's share of the banking
business, which was capably carried on by her sons. Davis joined
the bank staff about the time of his grandfather's death in 1897,
but because of ill health gave it up in 1900. Then.Charles A. joined
the staff and served in various positions until he was engaged by
the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, custodians of
Letchworth Park, to become executive secretary for the Park Commis-
sion, Feb. 1, 1925. Before Mr© Davis's death the lank had been
moved to a new building, which had been especially constructed for
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April 1955 Page 6 9
A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
it in 1882 where it continued in business until, another building
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was built across the street in 1917. Mr. Pierce died in 1916, and
at that time it was decided to make it a State bank. Charles A
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VanArsdale was elected president; Mrs, Clara VanArsdale, Vice Pres-
ident; and J. Harry VanArsdale who had been active in the bank since
graduating from college in 1907, was made cashier,, When Charles A
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resigned, J. Harry became presidant. At the close of World War II,
James VanArsdale III came in as cashier and Charles L. VanArsdale as
assistant cashier. The other son, William, became owner and manager
of the Elitsac Co. These are the sons of J Harry VanArsdale On
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Dec. 22, 19514., there occurred the merger of the Gainesviil* National
Bank with the Bank of Castile. J Harry VanArsdale 5s still presi~
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dent, James VanArsdale III, is Vice President, Charles I.. VanArsdale
Is cashier, and Mrs. Pauline Couch, a granddaughter of C'^ara Van-
Arsdale' and a daughter of Ruth VanArsdale Kellogg, .is assistant
cashier,, Mrs. Clara VanArsdale died Jan. 8, 193C, and tae home then
became the property of her oldest daughter,
Mary Marie VanArsdale
Mary, of course, was born and grew up In the house where sh«
now lives. She graduated from Castile High School in 1890, from
Lima Seminary in 1892, and from Albany State College in 1896. She
was principal of Schools 38 and \\2 in Buffalo until she retired in
1936o All this time she was living a full rich life, going abroad
several times and always collecting; for Mary is a born collector,,
Since her girlhood days when she had a herbarium in which she placed
ner collection of wild plant life, she has been interested in and
collected in so many fields that the home is now a veritable museum*,
Every corner, upstairs and down, is packed with rare and costly art-
icles which she has acquired. Her trips to other countries as well
as antique shops" within traveling distance in her own country,
yielded many finds
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And so we find a large china cupboard in the dining room filled
with Majolica ware. This ware, which traditionally came from Italy
in the 12th Century and reached its perfection in the 16th Century,
is known for its opaque glazing and showy decoration in colorings,
the greens, blues and browns are especially vivid She has -Ditchers
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of various sizes, bowls, vases, cups and other pieces. Her'collect"
tion includes some early American pieces known as Etruscan. There
are many pieces from Italy and England.
There are family heirlooms, of course, beautiful pieces of an-
tique furniture. In the family secretary, as they used to call the
combination desk and bookcase there is an amazingly large collection
of luster ware, both copper and gold, some of which she collected
and some that belonged to the family. And there are candlesticksJ
glass and brass, and silver and tin, yes, and of wood. Candlesticks
dating back to the 17th Century, one set of early Girondels, with
delicately carved French crystals. There are many from England,
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
some from Italy and others that are early American. There are lamps
too, if you are interested in early lighting—-whale oil lamps, lamps
with ccpper or marble bases and beautiful porcelain and glass specimens.
Then there are glass bottles and flasks. The collection In-
cludes the blown and blown-molded types: a Washington portrait flask
in deep green; a Washington-Taylor aquamarine flask; a Scott-Byron
flask in dark olive green; several "Cornucopia" specimens in the
violin, eagle, union and railroad types; examples showing the evolu-
tion of the canning jar from l8£8; "bitters"bottles in the shape of
a log cabin, a fish, and a barrel; old ink bottles, pickle jars and
long tubular bottles. We mustn't forget the Madonna color prints
collection, illustrating the different conceptions of the theme by
artists of different countries and different ages. A truly remark-
able collection!
Of course,there is Staffordshire and many other kinds of china;
rare old platters and pieces that would make a collector envious.
There are melodeons too; there were six at one time, the earliest
being the lap type. I think there are four at the present time.
And bells J bells of all types and kinds, some of them very old.
But the jug collection is perhaps one of the most interesting
and certainly the largest of them all. Every type of jug known to
collectors is there. There are rare specimens which are also as old
as the history of jugs. At one time they were housed in the Summer
House in the garden where they filled it to overflowing.
On September 7» 1936,Mary Van, as she is affectionately called,
was married to a man whom she had known in her girlhood days--Dr.
Edward Greene. The wedding took place at 4 o'clock on a Monday
afternoon in the beautiful garden back of the house, under the
spreading branches of a great pine tree. The bride was given In
marrage by her brother, Davis VanArsdalo. She wore a gown of shell
pink lace and carried a shower bouquet of tallisman roses and light
blue delphiniums. There were thirty-five guests--only the immediate
families. The four neices attended her. Mrs. Pauline Chase, the
matron of honor, was gowned In light blue lace, Miss Vera VanArsdale
in reseda green lace, Miss Jane VanArsdale in rust colored lace, and
Miss Betty Anne VanArsdale in royal blue lace. The best man was Dr.
Harold Clark. The ushers were William G. VanArsdale, Harlan W. Kel-
logg Jr., and James H. VanArsdale III, nephews of the bride. After
the ceremony and reception, the wedding supper was served at small
tables in another part of the garden.
Dr. Edward Greene was the adopted son of Dr.Cordelia A. Greene.
He attended Castile High School, a preparatory school at Cornell,
and the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his doctor's
diploma. After that he married and went to California. He became
greatly interested in the development of color photography and did a
great deal of experimental work when that art was still in its in-
fancy. He returned to Castile where his wife died in 1935<> Dr.
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
Edward is and always has been a collector too. It is something of a
problem now that the old place houses two collectors,, You can see
that it would when you hear that Dr. Edward has fifty-five clocks,
all of them going and in perfect condition I We might add that he
has never succeeded in getting them to aH strike at the same moment,
but it is something of an experience' to hear their sweet tones,
chiming in, first one and then another. Many of these are very old
specimens with wooden works, hand painted faces, hand-carved frpnts
and one that winds up in the same way that you would crank a Model
T Ford.
Dr. Greene calls himself a Bibliomaniac. Certainly his rare
book collection is second to none, in this part of the country at
least. Among the choice volumes in his bible collection is the very
rare first issue of the King James Version, printed in 1611, in Old
English black letter. This is known as the "Great He" Bible on
account of the error in Ruth 3*15 where the word "he" is used in
place of "she". Another Interesting volume is the large Cambridge
Bible, printed in I638, and known as the Saltonstall Bible. The
Saltonstall signature is written twice on the engraved title page.
There are two copies of the famous Geneva (Breeches) Bible, one
dated 1589, printed in Old English black letterjand an early edition
printed in Roman type and dated 1576. There are many other inter-
esting and valuable items in Dr. Greene's collection—the Bible
Paupreum with crude woodcut pictures explaining the text to those
who could read with difficulty! the extra large French bible printed
in Amsterdam in 1?1|1 and brought to Ohio in 1819« There are, also,
bibles and Testaments in Hebrew,. Greek, Latin, Gaelic, German,
French, Aramaic, Dutch, Turkish, American Indain, and Anglo-Saxon.
Dr. Edward is an enthusiastic collector of material pertaining
to Dr. Albert Schweitzer and has collected all the books that Doctor
Schweitzer has written and also all of those that have been written
about him. There is, also, in his collection records of selections
that Dr. Schweitzer plays, pictures of him, of his home, and letters
that Dr. Schweitzer has written to Dr. Greene.
Dr. Greene has many interests besides collecting rare books,
clocks and historic relics. When he returned to Castile, he began
to assist Dr. Mary T. Greene at the Castile Sanitarium in the care
of her men patients. Although he has long passed, the time when
people are supposed to do such active work, he continues to go with
clock-like regularity, never feeling that he can take a day off the
year around. One wonders, if, in addition to the help which he
feels Dr. Greene needs so desperately (for she is 88), that he Is
not paying a debt to the foster mother who brought him up and edu-
cated him and whom he dearly loved and respected. Dr. Edward's mod-
est, unassuming manner and his puckish sense of humor, which Is
always cropping out in unexpected ways, endears him to his friends
of whom he has a great many.
(continued on page 7k-)
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A CASTILE LANDMARK (cont.)
Both Dr. and Mrs. Greene are active in community affairs.. Both
are members of the Cordelia A. Greene'Library Board and Mrs. Greene
is president at the present time. Mrs. Greene has been a member of
the D„ A. R. for over forty years and has held many offices. You
might say that her major interest has been genealogy as she is
widely known and recognized as an eminent genealogist. She became
Interested when she started to trace her own family back to its
beginnings. She is a member of the Gala Club, has always been an
active church worker, and presently greatly interested in the work
of the missionary society.
In 1951+s in spite of the fact that she has passed her eightieth
birthday, ' she was general chairman of the Pageant Committee' of the
Castile Historical Society when they put on the pageant entitled
"The Life of Mary Jemison" at Letchworth Park. The year before, she
held a similar post when.Wyoming County was host to the Genesee
Country Federation of historical groups.
One wonders what will be the future of Castile's first house,
built by its first settler, and which has housed so many gifted and
unusual people. Will the future occupants preserve its archit"«rfct«al
beauty and its inimitable setting? One cannot but hope that they
will continue to love and cherish it as others have done in the past.
A C K N O W L E D G M E N TS
We are pleased to acknowledge receipt of copies of current issues of
The Castllian, Castile, through the courtesy of the publisher.
Mr. Allen B. Johnson, Elba, N. Y., has generously deposited with
this office several copies of 19th century and early 20th'century
Attica and Warsaw newspapers. In addition,he transcribed the Clerk's
Book of the old Bennington School District No. 1, showing acti-
vities of .that district from 1813 to 1857, and has filed a copy with
us. The names of many pioneers about Bennington Center appear in
this uniquely valuable record.
We continue to receive back copies of the bulletin from readers who
do not keep a file. In turn, these ar^e mailed oat to fill later re-
quests. The January issue, relating to Java Center,was exhausted at
once, and we still have many Inquiries for additional copies. Thanks
to all readers who have remembered us. There are available copies
of Mr. Cooley's "Complete Name Index" for volumes V and VI, on sale
at 15^ each or both for 25^o We are unable to fill requests for
earlier indiceso
' I N Q U I R I ES
A reader is seeking photos, maps, or general information on early
transportation in this section of the State. If you have data or
materials to aid him in his research, we should be pleased to pass
the word along to him at Johnson City, N Y. He is presently inter-
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ested In the Buffalo & Susquehanna RR.j the"Valley Railroad" to Java
Center; the Pittsburgh, Shawmut & Northern RR.; the Genesee Valley
Canal; and railroading south from Arcade on the old T. V. & Cuba RR.