New-York tribune., 1902-08-08
HUsDREDTH BIRTHDAY OF sPEyCERPoRT.
LITTLE WESTERN NEw-YoRK TOWN CELEBRATES
ANNIVERSARY APPROPRIATELY.

susneerport. N Y. Aug. (speCiaD.-This pleas
ant little Western New-York village to-day ceie-
hratsd the Tooth anniversary OF It's settlement with
appropriats and interesting exercises and the arg
est crowds that invaded the quiet. maple
shaded streets went away impressed with what
they had seen and heard.
Spencerport was settled in the spring OF lol- and
the first white man to view the forests and the
hills was George W. Wiley. who entered the coun-
try from Connecticut. built log house on clear
ing and IN the fall OF the same year brought MS
family with him The next year the Colby family
settled near the wfIleys. and about the same time
the Dilinghams took up holding At that time
much Of the country was covered with growth OF
timber some of which is visible on Pleasant Hil
and along the Ridge Road The land on which
these pioneers squatted part of the Phelps and
Gorham purchase, for which General James Wads-
worth, of Geneseo. agent. 1t was 10 MS IN
terest naturally. TO keep the he of immigration
in full swing. so he bethought aim Of methods 10
provoke enthusiasm.
In order to stimulate the building of durable
houses TO take the place OF the log huts. the gen.
eral offered to the first settler who could show
completed house, either frame cObbe, one oaTret
of pork one barrel of whiskey and six bushels OF
wheat As these things were commodities not to oe
despised by the hardy frontiersman. and even gilt
tering enough to be considered rare prizes grsat
but friendly strife arose. and the h9n3rs bT %eTs
borne on by tne WIeys' VINO Or ouIe nI .1TF viIJsse
lines The Dillingh ghams were close seconds. ana
PresbSteran church on the days when the
pleted Wiley and Dillingham; houses were raised,
the entire countryside turned out. and there
were feastings and drinklnSs and dancing anS
a wilderness rejoicing. The good feeling when
animated the whole proceedings may be gathered
from the fact that the whskey barrel was set on
two logs and tapped at both ends. because I'VE
houses had been finished practically together Hacn
man who had assisted at the ceremony OF raislng rs1
went home with a raSher OF bacon and HbeLdI
slice OF pork The wheat divided between tlS
Wilieys and the Dillinghams. ...,
The construction of these houses was pr1nltVe.
but they were Improvement on the original .os
huts In 1895 the ShOurds grist and saw Iniil was
built near the settlement and then the place as as
surned q more modern aspect The nrst schooI W.
established in 1901 and taught by MISS Esther tbs
In q log hut about quarter OF a mile South OF W
centre OF the village. The first religious tedcnils
was done by the itinerant preacher Peter s Nat
Nest who came through Western New-f orh trOuh
Phladephia In 1907. A little Methodist congTessII
tion which worshipped for many years at a SrlaI
nsighborfug settlement called Weosters bastn. ba.l.
was formed in 1870 A Methodist church was nSLs s
i'm 1895 and is now used grocery store "a, Lat
finer structure having taken its place EapS,1
and PRESBYTERIAN churches were founded N IoLl-
The village steadily grew In prosperity anI to-
tentment In the Civil War like all of the NesteI44
New-YOrk towns. Spencerport sent her pest az az
bravest to the front, and feels that tC-day s"o
has well earned the hOnOrs of her leoth oir'hdas'