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TOWN OF STAFFORD
VILLAGES/AREAS: Morganville, Roanoke aka Orangeburgh, Stafford aka Transit Store house from its being the principal supply station for the surveying company while running the "Transit Line".
Stafford Historical Society
8903 Route 237 / P.O. Box 28, Stafford, NY 14143

Town of Stafford
8903 Route 237, PO Box 52
Stafford, NY 14143-0052
Town Historian:
Robert Mullen Sr.
5655 Mullen Rd.
Stafford, NY 14143
First Settlers of Stafford Peter Stage (from Onondaga Co,) settled in 1802. Benj. Ganson and John Annis were the first settlers in the E. part of the town. Gen. W. L. Churchill served in the War of 1812, and subsequently as sheriff of Genesee county from 1820 to 1825. The first birth was W. L. Churchill March 9, 1803; and the first death, was the wife of W. L. Churchill at about the same time. The first school teacher was Esther Sprout, in 1806. Frederick Walthers was the first inn keeper, at Stafford Village in 1799; this was one of the first three taverns kept in the Holland Purchase. The first sawmill was built on Bigelow Creek, in 1810 by Amos Stow; and the first gristmill, on the same stream in 1811 by Seymour Ensign.
Stafford Family Histories Justin Baker Family
Stage Family
STAFFORD was formed from Batavia and LeRoy, March 24, 1820. In 1842, a piece of Stafford was taken to form the town of Pavilion. It is an interior town lying E. of the center of the county. Stafford was first settled in 1801, by Col. William Rumsey and Gen. Worthy Lovel Churchill, (from Vt.,) who located on the Buffalo Road 1 (Rt. #5), W. of Stafford.
 
HISTORY OF TOWN OF STAFFORD
as taken from The Gazetteer and Business Directory of Genesee County, N.Y. for 1869-70; Compiled and published by Hamilton Child, Syracuse, NY, 1869.

Stafford, was formed from Batavia and LeRoy, March 24, 1820. A part of Pavilion was taken off in 1842. It is an interior town, lying east of the center of the County. The surface is undulating, with a general slope to the north. Black Creek flows north through the center of the town, and Bigelow Creek rises in the west part and flows north, nearly parallel with Black Creek. The soil is a productive sandy loam intermixed with clay. The Niagara Falls Branch of the N. Y. C., and the Buffalo, N.Y. and Erie Railroads, pass through the town. At Morganville is a fall in Black Creek of about 30 feet perpendicular hight [sic], and 30 feet in rapids, affording a valuable water power. In the west bank of the Creek, a few rods below the falls, are two caves.

Stafford (p. v.) lies on Black Creek, near the center of the town, and is a station on the N. Y. C. R. R. It contains two churches, viz., Methodist and Episcopal, a hotel, a dry goods store, a drug store, several mechanic shops and about 350 inhabitants. "Blazing Star Ledge" No. 844 of I. O. of Good Templars, was organized March 1, 1869.

Morganville, (p. v.) situated on Black Creek, about a mile and a half north of Stafford, contains a church, a grist mill, a saw mill, several mechanic shops and about 20 houses. The Buffalo, N. Y. & Erie R. R. passes within three-fourths of a mile of the village. This village received its name in honor of the wife of Wm. Morgan, of Masonic notoriety.

Roanoke, in the south-east part of the town, on Oatka Creek, contains a Methodist church, a store, a grist mill, a saw mill, a cooper shop, a blacksmith shop and about 25 houses.

During the survey of the Transit Line a store house was established near the village of Stafford for the accommodation of the surveyors. In the spring of 1799 about ten acres were cleared, sowed to oats and planted with potatoes and garden vegetables. Frederick WALTHERS received from the Holland Company 150 acres of land, including the site of the store house, and opened a tavern. This appears to have been the first settlement in the town, and the crop raised that year was the first upon the Purchase. In 1801 Col. William RUMSEY and General Worthy L. CHURCHILL, from Vermont, located on the Buffalo road, west of the village. Peter STAGE, from Onondaga Co., settled in 1802. General CHURCHILL served with credit in the war of 1812 and was subsequently Sheriff of the County from 1820 to 1825. WALTHERS appears to have been quite officious, and in absence of the agent to have taken upon himself the responsibilities of that position.

The first birth in the town was that of a child of Gen. CHURCHILL, March 9, 1803, and the first death that of his wife, about the same time. The first school was taught by Esther SPROUT, in 1806. The first saw mill was built on Bigelow Creek, in 1810, by Amos STOW, and the first grist mill on the same stream, in 1811, by Seymour ENSIGN. The first public religious services were held at the house of Col. RUMSEY by Rev. Mr. GREEN. The first Church (Baptist) was organized by Rev. Amos LAMPSON, in 1815.

The population of the town in 1865 was 1,798, and its area 19,976 acres.

The town contains nine school districts employing ten teachers. The number of the school population is 657; the number attending school, 541; the average attendance, 246, and the amount expended for school purposes during the year ending September 30, 1868, was $3,797.00.

Transcibed by Kristy Lawrie Gravlin

 
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