The Penn's Grove record., 1884-12-20
ain September, i791

When the first white settlers entered
the Chemung valley, about 100 years
ago, they found the skulls of hundreds
Of horses piled in mounds on the spot
where this village now STANDS. Accord
ing to the tradition, these skulls belong
ed to horses In the army of Gen. Sulli-
van when he made his historical raid
upon the hostile indian tribes, in 1919.
On the return march of the victorious
army from the Genesee country a pOr.
ton of the troops encamped here. As
he intended to go down the Cbemung
with his forces on RATS, Gen. Sullivan
ordered the killing Of all the supertiuOus
horses. Wild animals deyOured their
carcasses, and subsequently the skulls
were heaped up by the Indians where
the first settlers found them, On &c
count of this incident the settlement re-
ceived the name of Households. In
| 1887 the Village vas incorporate, and
the name was changed by the legisla-
ture to Fairport, against the wishes of
most of the people. For eight years
they petitiOned regularly to have the
original name restored. This was done
in 1876. No stranger w comes here
whose first question is not:
why is this place called Horse
headsp"
Citizens are always lying in wait for
strangers, and as soon as the inYariable
question comes, it is their one great de-
light and recreation to tell the story,
with much detail, about Gen. Sullivan
and the hOrse-skull mounds. In fact,
competition in retailing the story has
| come to be SO close among enterprising
| Households people that the one who gets
the ear of strangers first and most fire.
quently is looked up to with envy by his
fellow townsmen The wide awake
citizen has even reduced the thing TO 50
exact a science that he does not wait
until the stranger asks the entiEe ques-
ton. The mai who alights from the
car here and begins his FIRST utterance
with "Why" or what" OF "Will yOu''
need speak no further, for the citizen,
lying III wait, launches the story ofSul-
livan and the horse skulls al him at
once. The man who is now looked
upon as the smartest one in the place is
a distinguished citizen who sat up for
the 3 a. IN. train the other night. Two
strangers alighted They were So sleepy
they did not stop to ask why the place
was called Households. The wide
awake citizen collared them.
81 see you want to hear the story
about Sullivan and the horse heads"
said he. ''Giye me your valise, I'll tell
you the story as we walk owe to the
hotel"
1t may well be supposed that the fact
that a strong effort is now being made
to have the name of the village changed
has raised a howl of Indignation here.
1t seems a capitalist from another place
wanted to become interested III manu-
featuring on an extensive scale in
Households, He visited the place a day
or so ago to look over the proSpectsand
talk with a Households capitalist. After
walking about the streets awhile, and
being unable to find the man for whom
he was looking, he stepped into a saloon
to ask where the mar liyel-TheEs
were four citizens in the place. The
visitor approached the man behind the
bar saying:
"Will you kindly tell me"
That was as far as he got, The four
cit zens were on their feet and all sides
of i i'm in less than y second. They all
addressed him:
SIN September, 1879, Gen. Sullivan,
on his return from chasing the Indians
IN the Genesee country, encamped OF
this very spot"
Then folio ed the story Of the horses
and their skulls. The capitalist was
speechless with surprise.
"They got it all mixed up" said the
saloon keeper. ''Order your drink sent
to the back room and I1H come in and
tell you the story slow and straight"
The visiting capitalist hurried out.
Meeting a boy on the street he said:
"My son can you tell me-"
"Ohl yes" said the boy. "In Sep
TENDER, 1879, Gen. Sullivan"
The visitor dashed wildly down the
street and met the man he had come to
see. This. citizen explained the state Of
affairs to him. Then he declared that
he wouldn't put a dollar OF his money in
Households unless the name was
changed. Some of them want his
money, and are working hard to induce
the people to petition the legislature to
change the name. Patriotic citizens,
however, ale outraged at the sugges-
ton. AS n walks along the streets
he see groups of residents discussing
the subject.
SIT is sacrilegel" some of them ex-
claim. Here, where Gen. Sullivan
camped in September, 1873, after
Then if he doesn't pass ON he will
hear the rest of it. The movers in favor
of q nnuy ma n x.anf 10 In.va ~, IL