Monroe County NyArchives History - Books .....Background Of The Area And Its People 1957
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Book Title: Irondequoit Story

BACKGROUND OF THE AREA AND ITS PEOPLE
Early Inhabitants

"Realm of the Senecas! No more
  In shadow lies the Pleasant Vale; 
Gone are the Chiefs who ruled of yore,
  Like chaff before the rushing gale. 
Their rivers run with narrowed bounds, 
Cleared are their broad old hunting grounds, 
And on their ancient battle fields 
The greensward to the plowman yields; 
Like mocking echoes of the hill 
Their fame resounded and grew still, 
And on green ridge and level plain Their hearths will never smoke again."
                           Yonnondio by William H. C. Hosmer

   Not many of us think of Irondequoit as old Indian territory, but we do know
that Irondequoit is an Indian name. We spell it I~r~o~n~d~e~q-u~o~i-t, but one
historian tells us that he has discovered more than fifty different spellings
for it. Here are some of them:

Tiorondequat 
The-run-de-quot 
Iron-de-gatt 
Tehe-oron-tok

"Qua-or quoi" is from the Huron "Kwa" meaning "Toward the Sunrise."

   Several meanings have been given to the word, such as:
         "Where the Lake turns aside."
         "The Bay."
         "Where the waters meet and die."

   One of these names has been adopted by Irondequoit High School for their
Senior Annual. It is Neo-da-on-da-quat.

   Someone has warned, "In trying to pronounce these different Indian spellings,
watch out you don't put a permanent wave in your tongue."

   Probably the first white men to visit this region were the French. They found
the country possessed by Seneca Indians, the most powerful and warlike tribe of
the Iroquois, who were known as the "Keepers of the Western Door." They were not
thought to have established any villages in Irondequoit, but the many trails
which crossed this locality, together with Irondequoit Bay and the upper Genesee
River, were their main highways of travel. The "Land of the Senecas" extended
from Seneca Lake on the east to Niagara River on the west and from Lake Ontario
on the north to Tioga Point, Susquehanna River, on the south.

   It is now believed that the Iroquois Indians were living in New York State
150 years before Columbus discovered America. These tribes-the Mohawks,
Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas and Senecas and later the Tuscaroras-were united
into a Confederacy or loose union, by the time the Europeans arrived on these
shores. Hiawatha is said to have been one of the great Iroquois leaders and
legend has it that he was the leader most responsible for the Confederacy. His
advice was, "Let us have one voice, one pipe and one war club." By this he meant
that the tribes should cease to fight one another from time to time and live in
peace. Not bad advice for the world today!

   Archeologists tell us that there were people in this locality as long ago as
the Archaic Period (3500 B. C.) To prove this, Mr. William Klem of 203 Laverne
Road has given to the historian his collection of arrow points, about fifty of
which archeologist Alfred K. Guthe of the Rochester Museum of Arts and Sciences
has identified as belonging to this period.

   Mr. Klem found these points on his farm on St. Paul Boulevard. It is thought
that these early people were hunters and fishermen, who came in small wandering
groups and did not establish homes as the later Indians did. Recent relics (Oct.
7, 1956) found near Honeoye Lake tell of this Vine Valley Culture.

   These names all refer to Irondequoit Bay, of course, from which the Town
derived its name. Irondequoit Bay was found on all the New World maps as early
as 1600.

Bay Once Part of Ancient River

   If they had been born thousands of years ago, to-day's promotors of the plan
for a navigable channel between Lake Ontario and Irondequoit Bay would have
found their work unnecessary. It is a story that is well known to geologists,
but not to thousands of people who have spent their lives in and around Rochester.

   Many thousands of years ago the river, flowing north through a valley of its
own making, turned eastward in what now is the Town of Rush. After a few miles
in the easterly direction, the river resumed a northward course and flowed
through what is now East Rochester, Ellison Park and Irondequoit Bay.

   But then came the glacial period-the Ice Age.

   As William D. Merrill, a former University of Rochester Professor of Biology
once explained it: "There came out of the north a huge ugly icesheet, advancing,
retreating, advancing, retreating, several times. It dumped so much rubbish into
this east-and-west stretch of the old river near Rush, that the river had to cut
a new channel down to the lake."

   One result was the formation of the "new" Genesee River gorge with its falls
in what now is Rochester. Another was the transformation of parts of the old
river valley into what now are Irondequoit Bay and the hills of Ellison Park.

The French and English in America

THE FRENCH

   The earliest French explorer known to have visited this locality was LaSalle.
In 1669, he sailed up Irondequoit Bay as far as what we now know as Ellison
Park. Looking for a route to the interior of the continent, he sought to have
the Senecas guide him and his men by way of their Indian trails. LaSalle brought
Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries with him and thus thought to pave the way for
more friendly relations with the Indians. More than thirty years before LaSalle
came, or about 1635, other missionaries who had arrived with Champlain and
Cartier on the continent had heard of this region and wrote concerning the
country and its inhabitants. These are the earliest written accounts of this
section and may be found in books concerning Jesuit relations preserved in the
archives of Canada.

   On the grounds of Mercy High School in Rochester may be found a plaque
bearing this inscription:

In Commemoration of
The first building for Christian worship
in the Rochester and Irondequoit Valley Area,
"a small cabin of bark of trees
to perform divine service therein."
Erected near this spot in June, 1679
by the Franciscan Recollect Missionaries
Reverend Louis Hennepin
Reverend Gabriel de la Ribourde
Revered Zenobe Membre
And in Memory of
other early missionaries and explorers
who visited the region of Irondequoit Bay:
Reverend Rene Galinee, Sulpitian, 1669
Reverend Dollier de Casson, Sulpitian, 1669
(Asociates of Sieur de LaSalle)
Reverend Julien Gamier, Jesuit. 1684, and
Reverend Pierre Charlevoix, S. J. Historian, 1721
who grafically described the locality
of Irondequoit Bay with "its pretty river
winding between two beautiful meadows."

   This tablet was erected on October 13, 1943, through the generosity of Herman
G. Hetzler; research by A. M. Stewart, Rochester, N. Y.

   The Senecas were friendly to the French and invited them to their feasts. It
is said that these early explorers were the first to eat "hot dog" in western
New York. They were actually fed three-pound chunks of dog meat, together with
other foods such as squash and beans. The Indians did not, however, furnish them
guides or point out their secret trails and LaSalle was obliged to return to the
lake and seek other ways of entering the continent.

   Louis XIV, then King of France, was dissatisfied with the way things were
going, so he appointed a new Governor General of Canada with instruction to
invade the Seneca country and take the land for France.

   Marquis Denonville was the newly appointed Governor General, and. following
instructions, he set out from Canada in 1687 with 1500 French soldiers and 500
Huron Indians, who were deadly enemies of the Iroquois. At the same time he
arranged with Tonti, leader of the neutral Indians living in the region of
Niagara, to meet him with 500 more at the entrance to Irondequoit Bay. The
timing was perfect and Seneca scouts, always on the lookout, reported that 200
bateaux were arriving from the east and the west and were landing at the
north-east corner of the Bay.

   It was a motley army, speaking a variety of tongues-Denonville's regulars in
their green uniforms, the colonists in their buckskins and homespun, and the
savages naked, their bodies bedaubed with brilliant paint.

   Camp was made at the north end of Irondequoit Bay near what is now Oklahoma
Beach. We are very certain of this location because when Mr. George Harris was
excavating for the Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, about 1874, he found
such relics as rusty gun barrels, iron and stone axes, arrow points and two
human skeletons.

   Over the years there has been considerable controversy concerning the route
followed by the army. We can only be guided by what seems the most logical route
between given points, remembering that is was the characteristic of the trails
to follow the higher points and avoid the swamps. Mr. Orsamus H. Marshall, who
is the greatest authority on this campaign, and later George H. Harris, a
"devoted student of nature, of our aborigines, our rocks, and our early
settlements," both claim that the army followed the eastern side of the Bay.

   Denonville left 400 men in charge of the camp and set out with the main body
of troops. They marched along Indian trails on the east side of the Bay and
camped the second night at what is now Float Bridge. From there they proceeded
on marked trails to Victor, the Seneca stronghold on Boughton Hill, where a
fierce battle was fought.

   Many lives were lost on both sides, but the French won and the Indian
villages were destroyed with all their crops. The triumphant French then went on
to Tokiakton (Rochester Junction) destroying crops and burning villages as they
went. Finally they returned with their many wounded, to their camp on the Bay,
and later left for Canada.

  Denonville planned the great strategy in 1687 to gain the empire of furs, and
a short water route to western trading parts, but all he gained for the French
was the everlasting hatred of the Indians. The Denonville expedition was
historically important in that it steered the Iroquois toward the English camp,
and thereby helped decide the destiny of the English-speaking of America. Thirty
years later, in 1717, the French returned to Irondequoit Bay and established a
trading post where Sea Breeze is now located. It was named Fort des Sables. In
1937, at the 250th anniversary of the Denonville expedition, a marker was placed
on the site of the fort. It reads as follows:


THIS IS THE SITE OF
INDIAN LANDING
THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE GENESEE COUNTRY
ALL OF WHOSE TRAILS LED TO
IRONDEQUOIT BAY
GATEWAY OF THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY

HERE WERE SCENES OF ADVENTURE AND ROMANCE POR A PERIOD OF MORE THAN THREE
HUNDRED YEARS INVOLVING INDIAN WARS: THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE BETWEEN THE FRENCH
AND ENGLISH: AND THE REVOLUTIONARY AND PIONEER PERIODS

RELIGION COMMERCE AND WAR
MADE THIS TERRITORY A FAMOUS BATTLEGROUND 
BRINGING HERE MANY NOTED
PRIESTS TRADERS AND SOLDIERS

ACROSS THE CREEK IS THE SITE OF SCHUYLER'S FORT 
AND THE LOST CITY OF TRYON

ERECTED BY
THE STATE OF NEW YORK
AND THE MONROE COUNTY PARK COMMISSION
1928


   "Here Denonville's French army landed to invade the Seneca Country July 12,
1687."  (The date should be July 10.)

   Mr. Alphonse A. Kolb designed the medal which commemorated this anniversary
and has presented two of them to the historian for the Town files.

THE ENGLISH

   In 1721, the Colonial Assembly of New York passed an Act raising 500 pounds
to establish an English trading post at the upper end of Irondequoit Bay near
what is now known as Atlantic Avenue. The crude fort overlooked Indian Landing
and was called Fort Schuyler. This was the point where many trails met and it
became a great fur trading center known as "The Gateway to the South." Capt.
Peter Schuyler Jr. was commissioned with nine men to defend this lonely outpost
but they remained only one year as it was thought too expensive to maintain the
fort for a longer time. Furs of the Genesee Valley had been depleted and it was
not until white men began to arrive as permanent settlers, 70 years later, that
any commercial activity began to develop. A replica of the old fort, now used by
the Scouts, stands on its original site in Ellison Park.

   During the French and Indian War of 1759, Irondequoit Bay saw the movements
of armies under Prideaux and Johnson against the Niagara frontier; and, later,
the efforts of Johnson to hold Indian councils on the Niagara and elsewhere.
General Bradstreet with Sir William Johnson visited Indian Landing in 1764.

   During the Revolution, the notorious Colonel Butler for a time had his
headquarters at Irondequoit Landing. The Sullivan Expedition of 1779, while
deeply affecting the Senecas living in this area, did not actually reach so far
north, though its western-most point was at Cuylerville, then known as Genesee
Castle, or Little Beard's Town. During the War of 1812, Indian Landing was a
very busy place and many expeditions left here with supplies for the American Army.

   Probably every prominent man in the New France period came to this Bay area
of Irondequoit. The Landing there was the great trading place of the Senecas as
it was the entrance into their country, and for this reason its growth was slow
until after the War of 1812 when the fear of the Indians gradually subsided. At
one time during the war, the Landing was deserted by the settlers who feared an
attack

   The Treasury Department maintained a customs office on Irondequoit Bay as
late as 1868 and employed two inspectors named Alfred M. Hobby and H. J. Hunger
ford at a pay of two dollars and fifty cents per day for each inspector. These
records are in the Customs Office in Rochester.

First Settlements

INDIAN LANDING

   The early pioneers who came to this section knew the Indian Landing as
Gerundegut, Irondequot or Irondequat Landing. It was the head of Irondequoit Bay
and all the bay schooners loaded or unloaded freight here.

   The first flour received in the city of Montreal, and the first decked boat
to descend the St. Lawrence River, came from this Landing. From it ran Indian
trails in every direction.

   During the period of New France, both French and English war vessels were
frequently at the Landing, and without doubt, there were many engagements in
this vicinity of which there is no record.

TRYON CITY (LOST CITY)

   LaSalle has been called the first promoter of this section, but Salmon Tryon
became the first real estate speculator. In 1797 he purchased from John Lusk 420
acres of land for two hundred pounds. He saw this land as a great shipbuilding
center. Irondequoit Bay, he predicted, would be covered with freighters,
carrying on tremendous trade with Canada. At that time, 40-ton schooners had no
difficulty in coming up the bay to what became known as Tryon City. There were
no sandbars and Irondequoit Creek was broad and deep.

   In 1799, Salmon Tryon sold this site to John Tryon for twice as much as he
paid for it. Some say they were brothers, others say that they were not related
in any way. John persuaded many early settlers to invest their money in the
enterprise, and to tell the climax of the story first, they lost all their
money. In the beginning, the city grew very rapidly. John Tryon built a store
and a warehouse, the first west of Canandaigua. Liquor and wine were very freely
used in those days and the store did a big business in those items. Furs, the
products of the farm, potash, salt, flour, and a general line of the necessities
of the age were handled by the store and sold to their customers. A great deal
of business was transacted by barter with the Indians. Irondequoit Creek was
well stocked with salmon trout, and there was an abundance of wild game in the
country. Lumber was an important industry and the building of ships was carried
on extensively. Potash and other forest products supplied a growing volume of
exports.

   The city was governed by its own laws, and what was known as a Lynch Court
was established. This court, always ready and on duty day and night in the City
of Tryon, was used largely because of the Tories who lived with the Indians
after the war and were prone to many forms of crime.

   A mill costing $15,000 was built, and besides being a profitable industry, it
helped clear the land of some of the trees which covered the country and were
considered a nuisance. They prevented communication by land, and to bring the
first goods from Canandaigua it had been necessary to cut a path through the
forest.

   Then, just when it seemed that Tryon City was starting toward bigger
business, the dream faded and nearby Rochesterville did the impossible: it
eclipsed Tryon City and the old Indian Landing became practically deserted.
Trade with the Indians was no longer important and communication by water was no
longer essential since roads had been built in this section. Now there is only a
blue marker amid the brambles in this area to tell of the Lost City on the banks
of Irondequoit Creek. The marker reads as follows:

              City of Tryon 
First White Settlement west of Canandaigua 
Founded 1797, Abandoned in 1818 
John Lusk was the First Settler in 1789

CARTHAGE

   Carthage was the name given to a settlement on the east side of the Genesee
River at the Lower Falls.

   Few of the people who ride down St. Paul St. today have any idea that
Carthage was once the center of stately homes thriving stores, a post office,
land offices, warehouses, flour mills, steamboat and stage hotels and believed
by its founders to be the nucleus of a great city in the future.

   Caleb Lyon was the pioneer who was clearing the land as early as 1809, but
just what was done in those times is not known. We do know, however, that the
name "Thousand Acre Tract" was given to the section and the real settlement
began when Caleb Lyon sold to a Land Company, composed of Elisha B. Strong,
Heman Norton, and Elisha Beach, five hundred acres of the tract. Later they
added another five hundred acres to their first purchase and laid out the
village of Carthage.

   It is interesting to note that persons who afterward became greatly
interested in Irondequoit made purchases here. Among them were the father of
Hosea Rogers, Elon Huntington after whom Huntington Hills is named, and
Alexander Hooker who gave to Irondequoit its first burial ground.

   Hosea Rogers' father came to Carthage in 1809. The merchants of Canandaigua,
about 1804, had cut a road to the mouth of the Genesee River which was their
shipping port to Canada and the west. There was then no road west of Brighton to
the Genesee River, only an Indian trail from Mt. Hope to the river landing then
called Carthage.

   Travelers from the east came over this Merchants' Road and those going to
Carthage found their way up-river by way of an Indian trail. This trail was used
as a tow path when there was not wind enough for the schooners to sail up the
river. The boats were first towed by men; later the path was widened and animals
were used.

   It was over this Merchants' Road and towpath that Mr. Rogers brought his
family. He found Caleb Lyon at Carthage and from him bought land near where the
Rochester School for the Deaf now stands.

   At this time there were some white settlers there, but these were mostly
squatters who disappeared as the land was bought for permanent homes.

   Mr. Rogers built a log house on his property and it was there that Hosea
Rogers was born. He remembered hearing his mother tell that when the British
fleet appeared at the mouth of the river in the War of 1812, the men shouldered
their muskets and started for the lake, and that she took him in her arms, and
with the other children, followed an Indian trail to the neighbors living at the
present corner of Norton and Carter Streets.

   In those days, there was no clearing between Carthage and the mouth of the
river and Mr. Rogers told stories of the deer, bears, wolves and wild cats to be
found in the woods; also of the famous fishing in the river, the sturgeon
weighing as much as 150 pounds.

   In 1816, Hanford's Landing, on the west bank of the river, and nearly a mile
farther north than Carthage, was the principal dock. It was called Fall Town but
Carthage, being free from the dreaded fever prevalent in Fall Town, had become
the popular landing. Much later, Carthage landing was known as Brewer's Dock.

   In the meantime, the enterprising company was completing plans for a bridge
uniting the high banks of the river, thus connecting the two segments of the
celebrated Ridge Road. This undertaking, stupendous for those days, awakened the
greatest interest. The bridge was built of wood and had a single arch. It was
completed in February 1819 and guaranteed for one year. It stood, the pride and
glory of Carthage, for 15 months and fell, May 22, 1820. Soon after, another
bridge was built to span the river above the main falls. This bridge was built
upon piers. It was carried away by a freshet and still another built in its
place which was destroyed by the big flood of 1835. The fourth was a suspension
bridge, built by the City of Rochester and opened to the public in 1856. It was
erected slightly north of the site of the Carthage bridge of 1819. This bridge
was destroyed by a heavy fall of snow which overloaded it and, after only nine
months, followed its predecessor to the bottom of the gorge.

   The fifth was the present Driving Park Avenue Bridge, completed in 1890.
   Veterans Memorial Bridge, the most recent span to be built across the
Genesee, was opened on December 27, 1931.

   About 1820, the name of the village of Carthage was changed to Clyde and this
was always its Post Office address. In 1830, however, when the Clyde Post Office
was abandoned, the name was changed back to Carthage.

   The growth of this western village in these early days was really phenomenal.
From 331 persons in 1815. It increased in numbers to about 2000 in 1821. This
increase and the difficulty in numbers to about 2000 in 1821. This increase and
the difficulty of reaching the two court towns of Canandaigua and Batavia
brought public spirited men to ask the legislature for the formation of a new
county to be called Monroe. Monroe County was thus established in 1821 and named
in honor of James Monroe who was then serving his second term as President of
the United States.

   With the established success of the Erie Canal in 1 825, manufacturing
supremacy was reluctantly conceded to Rochester, but Carthage had by no means
lost her enterprise. The Erie Canal increased rather than diminished her trade
with Canada and two new mills were erected on the flats at Carthage.

   Something better than a corduroy road between Carthage landing and the Erie
Canal became necessary. A horse-railroad three miles long, and costing $30,000
was built by a company in 1831. The cars were constructed like coaches, the
driver's seat on top, where there was a platform with a double seat through the
center. The magnificent view of the river made the trip on this road a favorite
ride for visitors.

   Five steamboats touched ten times a week at Carthage landing. There were few
mills in Canada in those days, and most of the Canadian wheat was brought here
to be ground and sent back as flour. In 1839, the year Irondequoit was separated
from Brighton, an eye witness saw seventeen vessels at one time lying at
Carthage landing loaded with flour for Montreal. Much leather was also shipped
from here and later large tanneries were built at Carthage landing.

   In 1834, when Rochester was incorporated, Carthage became part of the city
and was sometimes referred to as North Rochester or Lower Town.

   Some Irondequoiters will remember the Carthage Memorial Fountain erected in
1907 at the corner of St. Paul and Norton Streets. A tower stood above the
fountain for seven years. The lower part was removed much later.

   All of us know about the Bronze Memorial Tablet on a large boulder on St.
Paul Street near Veterans' Memorial Bridge. It was dedicated June 17, 1932 and
the inscription reads as shown in cut.

CARTHAGE
1809-1834

   STOUT ARMS SUBDUED THE WILDERNESS AND BUILT CARTHAGE HERE.
   AT THE RIVER'S BRINK HALTED THE OX-CARTS OF THE PIONEERS. CALEB LYON CAME
FIRST, 1809: ELISHA B. STRONG AND OTHERS. 1816.

THE VILLAGE PLOT COVERED A THOUSAND ACRES FROM THE RIDGE SOUTH TO PRESENT
CLIFFORD AVENUE, A MILE WIDE ALONG THE RIVER. WITH STATELY HOMES, MILLS,
WAREHOUSES, SHIPYARDS.

CARTHAGE BECAME A CENTER OF COMMERCE WITH CANADA AND THE WEST. THE ANNUAL
EXPORTS DOWN THE RIVER APPROACHED A MILLION DOLLARs THE GORGE WAS SPANNED BY THE
FAMOUS CARTHAGE BRIDGE. THE HIGHEST WOODEN ARCH EVER BUILT. WHEN ROCHESTER WAS
INCORPORATED, 1834 CARTHAGE WAS INCLUDED.

IN HONOR OF THE INSPIRING ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF CARTHAGE THIS MEMORIAL
IS DEDICATED.

ERECTED BY THE STATE OF NEW YORK, THE ROCHESTER HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND
IRONDEQUOIT CHAPTER D. A. R. 
1932

Earliest Visitors

   We are told that the first white man to live temporarily in what we now know
as Irondequoit was William Walker. He was known as Tory Walker because he had
fought with Butler and Brant during the Revolutionary War and had taken part in
the frequent merciless slaughters of white men, women and children in the
frontier settlements. With the Senecas, Walker had fled before the Sullivan Army
which raided this territory in 1799. Arch Merrill, in an article in the Democrat
and Chronicle of Oct. 14, 1956, says: "Most writers on the Revolutionary War
dismiss the Sullivan Expedition against the Indians as a mere foraging party or
skip it entirely. George Washington didn't consider it trivial. He dispatched
5000 men, a third of his army, to drive out the Indians in a campaign that cost
the impoverished colonies one million dollars."

   William Walker found this a place of residence congenial to his character for
he was a ranger, hunter, fisherman and occasional trader. He was in no sense a
typical pioneer nor a tiller of the soil. He settled near the mouth of the
Genesee river in 1791 or 1792, but later, becoming involved in some difficulty,
he fled to Canada and never returned to this country.

   The second visitor to Irondequoit soil was a man named Dunbar, a mulatto, who
came from Massachusetts in 1795 and whose family comprised six persons. He too,
was a hunter and fisherman though he did raise some fruit and otherwise
fulfilled the duties of a pioneer. He is said to have been a giant in stature
and strength. From the salt springs on his farm close to Irondequoit Creek, he
boiled the salt down and sold it to his customers. He too, moved to Canada and
died there.

   Emerson Babcock in his history "City of Tryon" tells us that in October of
1795 James Wadsworth called on him to pilot him through the woods to what is now
Irondequoit. With a view to the purchase of a large section here, they spent
four days exploring the land, but Mr. Wadsworth was so disgusted with what he
saw that he said: "I would not take it as a gift for it is worth nothing." I
wonder what he would say could he see Irondequoit today!

The Charlotte Incident

   Arch Merrill tells the following story of an interesting historical incident
during the War of 1812:

   A fleet of thirteen ships appeared off the southern coast of Lake Ontario
near Charlotte on a day in May 1814. The Commander of the ships was Commodore
Yeo. All the men who could be mustered to resist this attack were 33. It was a
foggy night. These men couldn't march very well and they were not in uniform,
but they could shoot straight and they were not afraid. When dawn came, they
knew that the British were watching from their ships so they marched in and out
of the trees on the shore. The woods were thick in those days and the British
Commander, thinking there was a large force defending, instead of landing his
men, sent out an officer to parley under a flag of truce. The terms were that
the British would not attack if the settlers would surrender the stores. Captain
Brown was in charge and his answer was "Blood knee deep, first." The British
were so impressed with the Americans and the supposed size of their forces that
they sailed away after firing a harmless shot or two.

   Julia Cole Wilson has in her possession one of the balls fired from the
English cannons that day. It measures one and one half inches in diameter. Mr.
Fred Rehbach had one that his children used as a plaything that measured six
inches in diameter. Both of these balls were found on the Cole Farm near the Lake.

Whence Irondequoit?

PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE

   The Phelps and Gorham Purchase lies in western New York within the lands once
occupied by the Six Nations-a confederation composed of the Senecas, Cayugas,
Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks and later the Tuscaroras-whose territory extended
rather indefinitely westward from the Hudson. In total disregard of the Indian
inhabitants, the Kings of England and France, based on the discoveries of their
countrymen, granted what they never possessed, and created conflicting claims.
As a result, the states of New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut all laid
claim to parts of New York State.

   In 1785, Massachusetts gave up most of her claim and in 1880 Connecticut did
likewise. By these cessions, the disputes between Connecticut and Massachusetts
with New York became limited to the lands lying in western New York. This
disputed territory amounted to 19,000 square miles and disagreements involving
it were finally settled by a convention of Commissioners appointed by the
parties and held at Hartford, Conn, on Dec. 16, 1786. As a result, Massachusetts
was given about 6000 acres of western New York land, subject to the title by the
Indians.

   Phelps and Gorham, two enterprising Americans from Massachusetts, both
desirous of owning some lands now owned by Massachusetts, agreed to the sum
proposed by the Massachusetts legislature for two and one half million acres and
now had only the Indians to negotiate with for the title. These men finally
secured a council with the Six Nations for the purpose of purchasing their
pre-emption rights, and a deed was executed July 8, 1788. The territory acquired
extended from Sodus Bay on the east to 12 miles beyond the Genesee River on the
west and from Lake Ontario on the north to Tioga Point. Pennsylvania on the
south. (See Plates I and II.) For these many acres of land, they agreed to pay
the Indians $5,000 in cash and an annual amount of $500. The first payment was
made in two installments, and the second amount was to be paid part in cash and
part in cattle. In the surveying of the lands, Phelps and Gorham practiced
deception and the Indians got the small end of the deal. It is doubtful whether
they received any of the annual payments.

   In the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, the 12 miles beyond the Genesee River was
known as the Mill Tract.

   At first the Indians refused to sell any lands west of the river, but Mr.
Phelps was most urgent in impressing upon them the necessity of a lot on the
west side of the river for a mill site, and stated that a tract about 12 miles
by 24 miles would be sufficient. He impressed upon them, also, the benefit to
them of having a place where their corn could be ground and their timber sawed.
The Indians, it is said, were surprized by the size of the mill lot, another
deception, but finally acceded to the request.

   Phelps and Gorham took immediate steps toward opening the land. Following a
survey in July 1789, the tract was divided into lots called townships, each six
miles square, and numbered from 1 to 14 beginning at the Pennsylvania line and
extending to Lake Ontario. There were seven ranges of these lots. (See Plate
II.) On the west side of the river, the Mill Tract was divided into a short
range containing two townships, and two other ranges containing four townships
each.

   Note that what is now that section of Monroe County embracing the seven
townships-Irondequoit, Brighton, Pittsford, Henrietta, Perinton, Penfield, and
Webster-in 1792 was all "District of Northfield." Trace down and see what has
happened: "District of Northfield" was changed in 1796 to "Town of Northfield,"
then in 1808 it was changed to "Boyle." In 1812 Perinton was split off and in
1813 the name of "Boyle" was changed to Smallwood. On March 25, 1914 Smallwood
was split in two and "Brighton" and "Pittsford" emerge. Finally on March 27,
1839 Brighton was divided and "Irondequoit" was formed. The only changes in
Irondequoit since that time have been caused by the action of the City of
Rochester in annexing various sections.


Town Topography

   When Irondequoit was established in 1839, three quarters of its land was
still in its primitive form. It was looked upon by many potential settlers as a
rejected and despised remnant of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. It was spoken
of as the north end of the Town of Brighton, located in the Seventh Range,
Township Fourteen, and known as a land overrun with wolves, bears, rattlesnakes,
and hostile Indians. Swamp fever was known to be prevalent.

DIVISION INTO FOUR SECTIONS

Section 1-

   This strip, about 1 1/2 miles wide and 4 1/4 miles long, contained some 4000
acres of ground and was located south of Norton Street between St. Paul Street
and the Bay. It was settled by thrifty farmers before Irondequoit was
established and was considered to have some of the best land in Monroe County
for growing wheat, potatoes, corn, hay and grain crops.

Section 2-

   This section comprised all the land along what we now know as Norton Street
north to the Ridge Road and from the Genesee River to Irondequoit Bay. It was
about 1 mile wide and 4 1/2 miles long and contained approximately 2700 acres.
Eighty percent of it was considered waste land. The eastern part extending from
Portland Avenue to the Bay was an eroded valley, with springs and a marsh,
through which flowed Hobbie Creek surrounded by steep hills. A swamp about one
half mile wide and 2 miles long extended from Ridge Road to Norton Street
through which flowed Emerson Creek.

   For about 1000 feet south of the Ridge Road there was an area known as a blow
sand area, the driest place in Irondequoit in those early days and thus unfit
for raising crops.

   However, the south part of section 2 and a part of section 1 comprised the
Boulder Section of Irondequoit. This included a narrow strip of land with an
average width of 2000 feet running all the way from the Genesee River to the
Bay. Norton Street now occupies the middle of this strip. Many of the boulders
from this section weighed from one to two and three tons. With crow bars the
early settlers pried out the smaller of those boulders and rolled them onto
skids to be hauled away by oxen and piled up along the zig-zag rail fences.

   Geologists tell us that these boulders are all foreigners, rolled here from
northern Canada by the Glacier Ice Sheet under tons of ice and for hundreds of
miles. As a result most of them are smooth, round or egg-shaped in form. As some
one has put it, "They ranged all the way from the size of a bushel basket to an
Eskimo Hut."

   The largest boulder ever known in this section. estimated to weigh 30 tons,
lies buried on the Bonkie Farm on Pardee Road. It was about 10 feet long and
about 8 feet in diameter. To bury this boulder below the plow, it was necessary
to dig a trench 10 feet deep alongside of it. The work was nearly completed when
the men were called away, and on their return found that the boulder had slid
into the hole. Someone probably had a miraculous escape.

   A sample of the larger boulders may be seen today on the lawn of the
Northside Hospital. These stones weigh 8 tons each.

  A beautiful boulder stood on the Hobbie or DeSmit Farm about one half mile
west of Culver Road. This one was 8 feet by 6 feet, egg-shaped, and its polished
surface showing "fools old," glistened in the sunlight. It stood like a sentinel
in an open eld for many years, over which time and the elements had smoothed its
surface like a billiard ball. In 1930, it was shattered with dynamite and the
fragments hauled into a gully along Hobbies Creek.

   The removing of these boulders was a big problem but when accomplished, the
land proved good land for both crops and cattle. Several of our townsmen who
located in this region about 1840 became some of our well-to-do market gardeners
and dairymen.

Section 3-

   That strip of land between Ridge Road and Titus Avenue and from the river to
the Bay, in all about 1 mile by 4 1/4 miles and comprising about 2700 acres, was
most despised by early settlers, because from Culver Road to St. Paul Boulevard
a swamp filled the center of the section. In size, this measured about a half
mile by three miles and was fairly alive with ever-flowing springs that formed
six creeks, all of which flowed into Lake Ontario.

   This marsh was a hunter's paradise. Wild ducks, quail, snipe, mud hens, wild
pigeons, woodcock and muskrats were found in abundance. Hunters were equipped
with hip-boots of rubber, and to avoid water holes and underground springs, they
jumped from one stump to another on the remains of giant pine trees that once
stood there. It is said that one farmer bet another that he could row a boat
over the 3-mile long marsh, during a rainy spell. The bet was taken and the
farmer performed the feat, but he had a hard time doing it and won only a barrel
of cider for his efforts.

   This section, having since been redeemed by draining, has some of the most
productive land in Monroe County, yes, even in New York State. Water was at
first carried off by deep ditches to some main stream. Later, the swale and peat
bogs were converted into high grade muck land for the growing of celery, onions,
lettuce, carrots and other crops for which the section was once famous.

   Along the north side of Ridge Road, as along the south side for about 500 to
1000 feet, was found the same blow sand characteristic of Section 2. Along Titus
Avenue were hills, creeks, gullies and springs with a stony part east of Culver
Road about 1000 feet wide and 2 miles long. This area starts just east of
Bouckhart Avenue, midway between the Ridge and Titus Avenue and extends east by
north to the Bay. Field stone along this 2 mile strip were originally so thick
that it was hard to find enough soil to cover a hill of potatoes or corn. The
more the farmers picked up the stones the more there seemed to be and plowing
brought more and more to the surface. These stones were used to build stone
fences and cellar walls. One farmer found enough stones on his place to encircle
his farm with a stone fence 5 feet high. Later he sold the stones from the fence
for 50 cents per load, such load being the equivalent of about 1 cu. yd. or the
maximum one team could haul at one time.

   When the Bucklin and Walzer Farms were subdivided and the building of homes
began, in excavating for cellars, the men found that about one third of the
amount excavated was stones. The people whose houses were being built at this
time found many uses for the stones including walks, rock gardens, water pools,
lot lines and often for ornamental purposes. One man, in 1900-1902, hired two
men to work for eight months to pick up enough stones to fill a pond on his
property. Many farmers were glad to give loads of stones to anyone who would
haul them away.

   The farms in the western part of Irondequoit were not free from stone but
here they were of the red sand stone variety. When St. Bernard Seminary was
being built on Lake Avenue, the Simpson Farm supplied 220 two-horse wagon loads
of these flat red stones for the price of one dollar per load.

   Mr. Louis Dubelbeiss reports that they quarried stone from the Ford Farm
located midway between the Ridge and Titus Avenue for building their wine cellar
on Ridge Road. This was in 1898.

   There are two houses still standing on Portland Avenue just south of Norton
Street that were built of Irondequoit field stone. They were the Jackson and
Ziegler homes, and at the time they were built, some 130 years ago, they were in
Irondequoit.

Section 4-

   This section was about 2 1/4 miles wide and 3 3/4 miles long. It included all
the north part of Irondequoit from Titus Avenue to Lake Ontario and from the
river to the Bay. This section covered about 5400 acres and was made up of steep
hills, hogbacks surrounded by creeks, marsh land and deep gullys. While there
was some level land along Cooper Road, St. Paul Blvd. and Culver Road, it was
usually spoken of as poor farm land compared to some other sections.

   Before these farms were subdivided and the thousands of homes built, which
now break the force of the wind sweeping off the lake, this bare flat land,
plowed, dragged and fitted for growing rye, caused dust storms that darkened the
sun and the dust was scattered all over the town. The wind was so strong that it
uprooted or cut off tender plants and deposited dust hills along fences like
snow banks. People who lived here about 1875-1880 will remember these sand
storms. Dust got into their eyes, nose and ears and sifted through crevices into
the houses. These storms occurred generally in March or April and sometimes
lasted a week. To provide wind breaks against them, the gardeners set out hedges
of various kinds across their farms.

SAND PITS ALONG THE RIDGE

   Thousands of years ago, after the last glacial ice sheet had receded, there
was left covering this part of the country a large lake known as Iroquois Lake.
Dr. Herman Leroy Fairchild, in his story of Lake Iroquois, tells us that the
great gravel ridges such as the Ridge Road here in Irondequoit, "are the
constructional bars of the Lake Iroquois beach." Being composed of wave-born
material, sand and gravel, the Iroquois bar beaches have been favorite sources
for building material.

   Following is a list of the sand and gravel pits found along the Ridge in
Irondequoit:

Sutton  Farm-South side of Ridge near Hudson. Started 1890, now filled in. 

Frank Heffer Pit-Mr. Heffer was a pioneer in the making of cement blocks. His
    factory was located at  1119 Ridge Road East. 

Otto Moetschler-East side of Portland near Ridge Road. 

David Lamming-North side of Ridge between Portland and Goodman. 

William Wehle-North side of Ridge between Portland and Goodman. 

Henry Metcalfe-South side of Ridge between Portland and Goodman, Now operated
    by Rappl and Hoenig. 

Elam Bros.-South of Ridge and east of Goodman. 

Raymond Fax-South side of Ridge and west of Vinton Road. 

Wright Farm-Northwest corner Ridge and Culver. Operated by Norris and
    Everett Walzer. 

Various Owners-Pit at southeast corner of Ridge and Culver Roads. About 1870
    this pit was used by the town for graveling roads. It is now covered by
    the new Shopping Plaza. 

Newport Sand and Gravel Co.-Pit opposite present Ridge-Culver Plaza. Land is now
    owned by East Irondequoit Central School District. 

Walzer Farm Pit-North of the Ridge on Culver Road. The largest and most
    profitable pit.

TRAILS, ROADS AND BRIDGES

   Before 1830, there were no real roads in Irondequoit. Indian trails were used
by all who had any reason to move from one section of western New York to another.

   Indian trails which were important to Irondequoit were those which led from
Canandaigua to the mouth of the Genesee River. Their general direction was
through Bushnells Basin to Irondequoit Landing at the head of Irondequoit Bay
(now Ellison Park) where Tryon City was located. From this point, the trail ran
northwest, near the intersection of Culver, Merchants Road and Bay Street,
continuing on north to Clifford and down the present Waring Road. It then cut
across north of Norton Street and along the rear of Hooker Cemetery on Portland
Avenue. From there, it ran northwest, crossing the Ridge Road just east of
Stanton Lane, thence north to Titus Avenue and followed a general course along
Cooper Road making many turns, crossing the gully near Pinegrove Avenue and on
to Thomas Avenue to where Stutson Street Bridge is now located. It terminated at
the mouth of the river where trading was carried on.

   About 1804, the merchants of Canandaigua widened the trail so that
two-wheeled ox-carts could haul merchandise. These were crude carts with wooden
wheels made by sawing off the ends of huge logs and boring a hole in the center
for the hickory axle, which was kept greased with bear fat.

   For many years, this entire stretch of about 30 miles was known as Merchants
Road, so named by the merchants of Canandaigua. It was by no means a straight
trail, but had the many above-described turns due to the fact that the Indians
preferred to go around obstacles rather than remove them. Today, Merchants Road
from Winton Road to Culver Road, a distance of about a mile, is all that is
still known by that name. There are still nine turns and bends in this mile
stretch, in spite of the grading and improving that have brought it to its
present condition.

   To the rear of the Hooker Cemetery, one can still see a very small segment of
this old Indian trail or old Merchants Road, the only part left.

   Another trail ran from Sea Breeze along the west side of the Bay, then in a
southwesterly direction to the Genesee River rapids above Court Street. This
crossed the previously described trail just south of Hooker Cemetery. These two
trails, cutting diagonally across Irondequoit, were the main arteries of travel
from all four corners of the town and from one end to the other.

   About 1850, there was great activity in the laying out of roads in western
New York. The main highways that divide Irondequoit into sections-such east-west
arteries as Clifford Avenue, Norton Street, Ridge Road, Titus Avenue and the
north-south streets named Culver Road, Portland Avenue, Hudson Avenue, Clinton
Avenue, and St. Paul Blvd.-were all surveyed and laid out about 1830.
Irondequoit was still a part of Brighton at that time.

   At first the roads were of dirt, sand or clay. Later, when mud and ruts made
them nearly impassable, many of them were planked. This lasted for awhile, until
many of the planks slipped and horses were lamed or even suffered broken legs.
Then came the era of gravel roads. In the winter time when the snow was deep and
there were great drifts in the roads, the farmers all worked on the roads to
shovel them out. Often one had to drive through fields which were more passable
than the road. The snow could not be removed by men as our snow-plows do today,
and many a bank and pitch-hole slowed progress. There was much more snow then,
than there is now and a sleighride party was one of the anticipated social
events. Often the sleigh tipped over but that usually just added to the fun.

   Men who grumble and growl today because they have to shovel snow so that they
can either walk or ride out of their own driveways have it easier than did the
pioneers in Irondequoit. Fifty years ago it was necessary to work on the road as
well as to pay taxes and to shovel snow. Any man who tried to evade that work
found himself in the arms of a constable and facing a magistrate. Following is a
warrant issued to an Overseer of Highways in 1887.

   "It shall be your duty as such Overseer, and you are required immediately, to
call upon all person liable to perform highway labor in your district, and when
called by you must do the assigned work and failing to appear at the time and
place designated by you or to commute at $1 a day within twelve hours after the
notice, shall be liable to a fine of $1.50 a day for each day's labor they may
be required to perform.
   "Given under my hand, this 20th day of March, 1887.
                                                Daniel Ide"

   Since it was possible, at that time, to hire a substitute at $1 per day, this
highway work did not cause any annoyance to those farmers.

   Road taxes were seldom paid in dollars then, but working on the roads took
care of the taxes. One day's work of 10 hours by one man took care of $1 in
taxes. A team of horses with a driver, working 10 hours counted as $4. The town
roads were supervised by the Highway Commissioner, who, with the approval of the
Town Board, had power to appoint Path-Masters. Each of these Path-Masters had
from one to two miles of road assigned to him. They worked without pay, since it
was considered an honor to be asked to be a Path-Master.

   Prior to 1894 not a soul lived north of Stutson Street, in Summerville or at
Windsor Beach in the winter, and even the Life Saving Crew departed with the
first snowfall and remained away until spring. Summerville Boulevard, known as
St. Paul Street, ended in a swamp where Bengel's Inn now stands. Large farms and
peach orchards occupied practically all the land from Ridge Road to the lake.
Titus Avenue, sometimes referred to as Little Ridge, Cooper Road, known as Lower
Hudson, Pinegrove Avenue, called Sherry Road, and Thomas Avenue, then named
Smuggler's Road were the only thoroughfares leading off St. Paul in Irondequoit.

   A new age in road construction came in 1898, when a state law permitted the
building of state roads. The first improved road under that law in Monroe County
was in Irondequoit; this was Hudson Avenue. It was an innovation to have a paved
road outside of a city, but when the automobile came on the scene, road
construction vastly improved.

   This sort of road maintenance in Irondequoit was kept up until 1910, when the
system of Town Superintendent of Highways was inaugurated. This was a great step
forward in town road construction.

   Between 1910 and 1920 the following roads were improved: Cooper Road widened
and improved:

    Portland Avenue between Ridge and Norton Street.
    Hogback Road (now Kings Highway) graded and widened in 1913 and paved soon
         thereafter. 
    Hudson Avenue from Ridge to Titus, with macadam-1914.
    Garden Street (now Portland Avenue) from Ridge to Titus-1915. 
    Norton Street from Culver to Helendale-1915. 
    Pinegrove Avenue from St. Paul Blvd to List Avenue-1915.
    Titus Avenue was built in sections:
          From St. Paul to Hudson-1914,
          From Hudson to Garden Street (Portland Avenue) -1915,
          From Garden Street to Culver Road-1916.
          This macadam improvement made Titus Avenue one of the foremost roads
                in Irondequoit.
    Seneca Road from Culver to the R.R. Tracks (now the new Boulevard)-1916. 
    Bouckhart Avenue from Ridge to Titus-1918.

   All these improvements were financed by state, county and town money, the
town paying 15% of the cost.

   Before 1836, there was no way of crossing over Irondequoit Creek at Empire
Boulevard. But in 1836, Mr. John McGonegal, then Supervisor, built a
pontoon-style bridge over the channel. The bridge was anchored at each end and
the marsh was filled in with logs. These floating logs and the bridge gave it
the name of Float Bridge.

   In the year 1890, when Mr. William Sours was Supervisor, the town let a
contract to have this stretch of about 1000 feet filled in with solid earth. The
cost was $5000. In 1920, the bridge was again condemned and in 1924 was replaced
with a concrete structure.

   There are now four dugways that cross the Irondequoit Valley.
          Float Bridge            Blossom Road
          Atlantic Avenue         Penfleld Road

All these roads were improved between 1912-1915.

   The Glen Haven Road was laid out and the hill graded for travel between 1898
and 1900. This road was built by the Glen Haven Improvement Company at their own
expense.

   The Bay View Hill was widened and graded in 1914-1915.

   The Newport Hill, in the days when tallyhos traveled up and down, required a
skilled four-in-hand driver, good brakes going down and plenty of horse power
coming up. Generally after heavy rains the hill was in bad condition.   It was
widened, drained and graveled in 1915.

   The Birds and Worms Hill was for many years a private road. It was very steep
and, because of the expense involved, was not improved until 1913.

   The Point Pleasant Hill was another steep private road leading to the Bay
which was taken over by the town and improved in 1915.

   The Bay Shore Boulevard was built from Bay View to the Ridge Road during the
depression years. The W.P.A. began the job in 1932 and the road was finished in
1935. The work was done under the handicap of inadequate machinery: there were
no power shovels or other road machinery used, all work being done by hand with
wheelbarrows and two-wheel, hand push-carts.

   Mr. Louis J. Dubelbeiss was instrumental in getting this boulevard built. He
secured the signatures of the 54 property owners, got the County Engineers to
make the survey and draw up maps for the proposed road. Mr. Dubelbeiss worked at
this project over the seven-year period from 1928-1935 and the Bay Shore
residents are greatly indebted to him. For his work his only compensation was
the sincere gratitude of the people whom the boulevard benefitted.

   Previous to 1918 the only way to reach Charlotte from Summerville was by way
of the Windsor Ferry. Since this ferry was not in operation after the summer
months, Charlotte merchants, selling goods to Summerville residents during the
fall and winter, were obliged to travel south on Lake Avenue to Driving Park
Avenue Bridge, then down St. Paul Boulevard - a long drive to get across 500 ft.
of water.

   It therefore was a great boon to them when Stutson Street Bridge, erected at
a cost of $386,789.55, was opened for traffic March 1, 1918. (Veterans Memorial
Bridge was not opened until Dec. 27, 1931.)

   Reconstruction and repairs are due on Stutson Bridge in the fall of 1957. The
job now is required to be completed by May 1958 and calls for strengthening of
approaches and installation of a steel gird deck similar to that on the lift
spans. The 39-year old bridge was closed to trucks of more than four-ton
capacity in 1955, and in 1956 to trucks of more than one ton capacity.

VIRGIN TIMBER

   Irondequoit once was densely covered by some of the most beautiful timber to
be found anywhere in New York State.

   Red and white oak, hard and soft maple, black walnut, wild cherry, hickory,
chestnut, hemlock, basswood, spruce and white pine produced logs and lumber of
the finest quality. Millions of board feet were cut in Irondequoit forests. This
was about the year 1830, when Rochester was doing a great deal of building.

   White pine predominated. It seemed to thrive best in the northern part of the
town, around Irondequoit Bay, and also in the lowland immediately north of the
Ridge Rd. There were pine stumps 3 and 4 ft. in diameter, still in fine
condition, between Ridge Rd. and Titus Ave. along Bouckhart Ave. and Goodman St.
extension (now Kings Highway) as late as 1890.

   The pine timbers, salvaged from the razing of the Spiritualist Church at the
corner of Troup St. and Plymouth Ave. in 1955, that carried the arched ceiling
over the auditorium, and the timbers that were used to build the steeple, came
from Irondequoit.

   Pine planks and joists from 2 1/2 to 3 inches thick, 12 to 16 inches wide and
from 20 to 30 ft. long have been salvaged from Rochester buildings, which have
been demolished to make way for parking lots, the Inner Loop and new buildings.

   The Barr and Creelman building, razed in 1953 to make way for the Veteran
Memorial Building, contained several hundreds of these pine planks and joists,
that had been used to support all five floors. The 3-inch joists were as sound
as the day they were placed in position. These planks and joists had been sawed
from trees in Irondequoit, whose trunks extended 20 to 40 feet before reaching
the first limb, and were without knot or blemish.

   James Sherry, who once owned the land now occupied by the Disposal Plant,
often spoke of the beautiful pine and spruce trees on his farm.

   Hosea Rogers owned many acres of these beautiful trees. He operated a sawmill
on the east side of, and used the water power from, Stanton Pond.

   Saw mills were numerous in different parts of Irondequoit between 1830 and
1860 but few had water power, most of them being operated by horse power.

   In the years between 1840 and 1850, the Zwergers, Meisenzahls and Baumans,
who lived near Bay View and Glen Haven were loggers and were employed to clear
the land for crops. They sawed the logs into 12 to 16 inch lengths and split
them for dressing into hand made shingles which outlasted those that were sawed.
For this activity Bay View become known as Shingle Landing.

   Chestnut trees were also very plentiful in Irondequoit. There were extensive
groves of them, and the bushels of nuts taken from them furnished income for the
families who owned them. In those days a bushel of chestnuts brought from $5.00
to $8.00 and some people made as much as $300 to $500 a year on their chestnuts.
No spraying, no cultivating, no fertilizer was necessary; the chestnuts were
simply picked off the ground after the first frost opened the burrs. If a gentle
wind didn't bring down the nuts, then some one climbed the tree to shake or jar
the limbs and the nuts would rattle down like hailstones.

   In addition to the sale of the nuts from these trees there was a ready market
for chestnut fence posts, fence rails and sawed lumber.

   There was a most beautiful grove of chestnut trees in Huntington Hills before
the chestnut blight. The Rifle Range section also had fine groves and Chestnut
Hill Drive gets its name from the beautiful groves in that locality.

   There are few places in Irondequoit now where one can see any of this virgin
timber; the Buell woods west of the new North-side Hospital contains some, the
wooded patch north and east of the Rudman farm on Titus Ave. is still standing
and there are more of these trees along Pinegrove Ave.

   Durand Eastman Park and Seneca Park have some very beautiful trees and these
have a chance of being preserved, but the others will probably soon disappear as
the building program progresses.

   Basswood trees can be found down Newport Road. At the Old Homestead, now
owned by the Ward Natural Science Establishment, are two mammoth basswood trees,
which cast their shadow over the acre of lawn. Basswood is in demand for making
extension ladders and for other items requiring strong wood of light weight.

   In the days gone by, the wild magnolia tree was found in many parts of
Irondequoit. This tree, loved so much for its bloom in the month of May, even
before other trees have leaves sprouting, thrives best along the edge of woods
or in spots not so much overshaded by taller trees. While it likes some shade,
it still likes sunlight.

   Magnolia trees do not grow to the size of forest trees, 10 inches in diameter
being considered large. Its wood is the hardest and heaviest to be found in the
state, harder even than hickory and so hard that it is impossible to split. For
this reason, woodmen have named it "ironwood." A trunk 4 to 6 inches in
diameter, when dried makes good mallets. When more plentiful, it was used for
hubs of wagon wheels. It required a real mechanic with sharp tools to bore a
hole through the center of this hub, and also to bore and chisel the square
holes for the spokes. When wooden axles were in universal use, local blacksmiths
and wagon-makers sought this kind of wood.

    Some of the very early settlers indiscriminately cut down the trees for the
purpose of making pearl ash which was shipped to Canada via Irondequoit Bay.
There was no question of conservation of forests in those days, the settlers
being eager to clear the ground for the purpose of raising food crops.

OLD PONDS

Emerson Pond-
   Only oldtimers would remember when Emerson Pond occupied what is now the
southeast area of St, Paul Street and Ridge Road, including the site now used
for the traffic circle at that intersection. There was good fishing there as it
was loaded with sunfish, perch and bullheads. This pond was fed by Norton's
Creek which was a lively stream. In the wintertime thousands used to skate on
the ice there.

Coy-Titus Pond-
   For some of us, the pages of history were turned back when in 1928 the old
Coy-Titus Pond was filled in. The dirt used for the filling came from the
excavation for Benjamin Franklin High School.

   The source of this old pond was a spring near where the Hosea Rogers School
is located, and the stream was fed by surface waters until the neighborhood
"grew up" and sewers were installed. The pond, owned by Egbert Coy before "Dell"
Titus bought it, at one time covered about four acres and averaged 5 feet in
depth. About 1900, its waters were pumped to sprinkling hnes serving the Titus
hothouses and vegetable gardens. The pond contained hundreds of gold fish about
forty years ago and they brought a handsome profit. In the 1900's it was used
for ice skating. Mr. Edward Graffrath purchased the property from Mr. Titus and
it was sold later for the Hudson-Titus Shopping Plaza which opened on that site
in June of 1951.

Stanton Pond-
   Stanton Pond, better known in late years as the Willow Pond and originally
located on the Roy Rudman farm, was first owned (about 1850) by a man named
Chauncey Woodworth. Hosea Rogers, one-time owner of this farm, built a sawmill
there and Charles Stanton who purchased the property from Mr. Rogers, built an
ice house on the north side.

   Fishing in the pond was enjoyed by many Irondequoiters and frog spearing was
a great sport there too.

   A sad accident occurred at the old pond on June 13, 1868 when Mary Ball
Perkins, wife of Alfred Perkins, was drowned with her two daughters, Alma and Ella.

   When the Rudman farm was purchased by the Schantz Realty Company, the old
Willow Pond was drained.

Early Industries

NURSERIES

   The nursery business was one of the leading industries of Irondequoit between
the years 1880 and 1920.

   Millions of plants, seedlings and shrubs were raised here. It was a business
not only for nurserymen with large acreage, but also for some of the farmers who
grew stock as a side line for the larger concerns. Rochester was, of course, the
center of the trade. Apple, peach, pear, and plum orchards were common.

   It is said that some of the apples from Irondequoit were shipped to England
and France. It is also reported that France made its best champagne from dried
apples that came from Irondequoit.

   Mr. George Cooper, one of the first nurserymen in Irondequoit, grew nursery
stock on his farm at the corner of Cooper Rd. and Titus Ave., for several years
before he entered the gardening business. For some years Mr. Cooper kept a stand
at the corner of Main and Front Streets in Rochester, where he retailed the
nursery stock grown on his farm.

   Two of the first nurseymen to carry on the business on a large scale were
Charles and Samuel Moulson, Charles owned a large tract on Norton St. between
Hudson and Joseph Aves. known as the Union Nursery.  Samuel purchased more than
200 acres on the Flats between the Genesee River and Summerville Blvd. They also
owned property on Union St. which they sold for the Rochester Public Market.

   Horace Hooker, brother of Alexander Hooker, came to this locality about 1835.
He owned about 200 acres on St. Paul near Titus and started his nursery business
there. In 1845, he bought new land on Norton St., which was then in Irondequoit.

   Little's Nursery was located on Empire Blvd. between Culver and Pardee Roads.
Mr. Little also built greenhouses on part of his 150 acre farm. This farm was a
show place at one time because of the thousands of roses grown.

   The Schum Nurseries were also in Irondequoit before that section was annexed
to Rochester. They were located on Clifford Ave. midway between Culver and
Goodman Sts. This nursery was established in 1867 by Joseph H. Schum and his
grandsons Joseph A. and Andrew B. Schum.

   The Costich Nursery on Culver Road was founded by Frank Costich in 1870 and
later the business was carried on by his son, Gilbert. Gilbert developed the
business into one of the leading nurseries in this part of the state. He also
purchased the property owned by the Little Nursery and built his home on Empire
Blvd. A few years ago this home was moved across the road and became part of the
property owned by St. Ambrose Church and School.

   The Costich nursery specialized in roses, pears, plums, quinces, apples,
evergreens and ornamental stock, consisting of shrubs and many shade trees. At
one time, it is said, the Costich Nursery alone sold on an average 1,500,000
trees a year. This gives a small idea of the volume of nursery business carried
on here in the early days of Irondequoit.

   Other nurserymen grew stock on a much smaller scale. Thomas Bowman was one of
these whose property was on Laurelton Tract. Joseph Heberle owned 250 acres on
Culver Rd. and raised thousands of trees, mostly for wholesale. Alfred Heberle,
his oldest son, is said to be the founder of the celebrated Rochester peach and
later carried on business in Penfield. Mr. A. C. Hobbie grew considerable stock
for Ellwanger and Barry Co. of Rochester.

   Many smaller farmers were engaged in growing stock for Brown Bros., a
nationally known nursery firm.

WINERIES

Vinton Wineries-

   The Vinton family settled in Braintree, Mass. and made their home with the
Plymouth Settlers. They were active in establishing the 13 Colonies and were
numbered among the Minute Men of Concord. Both John Adams and John Quincy Adams
married into the Vinton family. Thus it is apparent that some of our early
Irondequoit settlers were of no mean ancestry.

   In 1812 Joseph Vinton; a descendant of the Vinton family, migrated on
horseback all the way from Connecticut to the eastern shore of Irondequoit Bay.
He bought three acres of land in what is now the town of Webster, which,
included what we know as Inspiration Point and Stony Point on the Bay.

   Prior to his interest in wineries, Vinton was active in the sawmill business,
an industry he had known in Massachusetts. Finding it difficult to get timber
across the Bay, he decided to locate on the west shore. He bought 70 acres of
land where Newport now stands. About 1820, he erected a sawmill and floated the
logs from both sides of the bay to the mill. The mill was operated by driving
horses, hitched to beams, around in a circle. This drove the gears, which, in
turn, spun the drive pulley for the belt to the shaft of the saw. The lumber
from the mill was hauled to Rochesterville. About 1841, the mill was rebuilt and
turned into a resort which was called the Newport House. Some of the original
logs are found in their hand-hewn form in the foundation of this building today.
About 1825 Mr. Vinton built the house now called the Old Homestead which stands
on the hill above the Newport House.

   Mr. Vinton established the first vineyard and winery west of Canandaigua and
north of Bath. As there were no nurseries at that time, he grew his settings
from his own grape cuttings. His specialties were the Oporto and Isabella
grapes; blended, these make excellent Port Wine. Mr. Vinton became the first
wine merchant in western New York. He laid the foundation for Irondequoit Port
Wine for medicinal purposes, a business later carried on by the McBride Company.

   After turning Newport into a resort, Mr. Vinton filled in the cove and made
more ground for other buildings. The present Newport Road was laid out and
graded by Joseph Vinton and it was a great improvement over the old road which
ran past the McBride place at the end of Ridge Road and then down the steep hill
to the Bay.

   A few years ago some cannon balls and shells were found by Mr. Joseph E.
Duell of 371 Bay Front North, after a land slide into the marsh on the east side
of the Bay, in the vicinity of Inspiration Point. He has presented one of each
to your Town Historian and these may be examined by anyone interested. The
qrandson of Joseph Vinton has told how his grandfather, because he owned farms
on both sides of the Bay, gave permission to the State Militia in 1850 to use
his property for target practice. The cannons were placed on the hill above
Newport and fired at targets across the Bay, which at that time had few
inhabitants along the shore. Mr. Vinton said that if all the cannon balls were
dug out of the Bay hills, and fished out of the bay bottom, they might fill a
five-ton truck.

   A grandson also called Joseph Vinton was born in 1886 and has been a resident
of Irondequoit all his life. In the contracting and building business, he has
erected hundreds of homes in Rochester and Irondequoit and developed the
subdivision called the Vinton Tract. Vinton Rd. is named for his family.

McBride Wineries

   Asa D. McBride was born in Steuben County, N. Y. in 1832. He was of Swedish
descent. As a youth he clerked in a grocery store in Urbana at the head of Keuka
Lake, in the heart of the best grape-growing section of America. He became
interested in the wine industry and was made a salesman traveling to Rochester
and Buffalo with his ponies and wagon. He concentrated on selling to drug stores
and only for medicinal purposes.

   Later he moved to Rochester and, upon visiting the Vinton vineyards, he was
so impressed with the possibilities of vine culture along the Bay that he formed
a partnership with a man named Joseph Warren and together they bought 45 acres
of vineyards from Joseph and Mary Vinton; sometime later, they bought another 16
acres. Mr. Warren did most of the managing at the vineyards while Mr. McBride
continued as salesman. They built a stone wine cellar that stood for many years
half way down the hill, on the Bay front south of Newport. It was a building 30
by 40 feet with the cellar part in the side hill and the filling and shipping
room on the level of a roadway in front.

   In 1871, Mr. McBride bought out Mr. Warren's interest. His entire attention
was now needed at home, so from that time on, he hired salesmen. Henry
Wondergem, a man from Holland, who had learned wine-making in France, and had
become an expert, was hired. Mr. George L. Chase was also a salesman for the
McBride Co. for 46 years.

   As the demand for Irondequoit Port Wine grew and druggists throughout the
east and west increased their orders, larger storage capacity was required. In
1888, therefore, Mr. McBride built a new wine cellar on the level ground at the
end of Ridge Rd. above the Bay. This did away with the heavy hauling up and down
the long Newport hill. At this same time, he built the huge basement barns.

   McBride made other wines including Sherry, Catawba, Sauterne, Tokay,
Angelica, Blackberry and Cordial, Muscatell, Beef iron and wine, Grape Brandy
and Grape Juice. But with all this, he adhered strictly to the drug trade and
always turned down orders from saloons.

   Mr. McBride operated the business alone until January 1, 1899 when the
Irondequoit Wine Co. was formed. On July 1, 1908 this company was incorporated
with the following officers:

President-Asa McBride
Secretary and Treasurer-William S. Titus
Superintendent-Oscar Smith
Foreman-George Thomas Ford

   In 1909, the Irondequoit Fruit Juice Co. was formed as a subsidiary to the
Wine Co. The directors were Asa McBride, Byron M. Hyde, and William S. Titus.
This firm made various fruit jucies, fruit syrup, ginger ale, and cordials. It
was operated and managed by the Wine Co.

   Mr. McBride remained active and head of the Company for 55 years. In all he
had spent 70 years in the wine business. At the Columbian Exposition at Chicago
in 1893 he was awarded a medal for his exhibit. A part of his display at Chicago
was a cask of wine holding 135 gallons.

   With his wife, Mr. McBride spent many winters in Florida, where he died in
1922 at the age of 90 years. Both he and his wife are buried there.

   The McBride property on Ridge Road was purchased by Ward's Natural Science
Establishment in 1941. This establishment was originated in 1862 by Henry A.
Ward, Professor of Geology at the University of Rochester. Dr. Dean L. Gamble is
in charge at the present date.

   Models for the Establishment are developed, cast and painted in Girard Studio
at 1896 Five Mile Line Road in Penfield. Mrs. Lillian S. Girard, who had worked
as an assistant in the model department, is now, with her husband Robert, in
charge of the department. They were appointed by Dr. Gamble in February 1952.
The studio was formerly located at 1315 Ridge Road East. All models are sold
exclusively to the Wards Science Establishment.

Dubelbeiss Winery

   The most distinguished of Irondequoit vintners was Samuel Dubelbeiss who came
to the United States in 1839 from Switzerland where his family had been
operating vineyards and wineries at Schintznach as far back as the fourteenth
century.

   His son Louis established in 1872 the long-famous Dubelbeiss wine cellars on
the south side of Ridge Road, between Portland and Culver, where the old
cobblestone buildings were a landmark until recent years. Louis Dubelbeiss died
in 1895 and the business was carried on by his sons, Rudolph and Louis.

  Rudolph Dubelbeiss was elected Supervisor of Irondequoit when he was but 25
years old. He served for three years 1898-1900 and died suddenly of a heart
attack at the age of 28 years. Louis was also elected to the office of
Supervisor in 1910 and served in that office for ten years, 1910-1920.

   The Dubelbeiss family produced wine of the finest quality which was sold
exclusively to private homes. This custom of serving wine in the home was quite
general among people of foreign extraction who brought the habit from various
European countries.

   In 1910, Mr. Louis Dubelbeiss discontinued the wine business and began the
manufacture of unfermented grape juice. Later he carried on a large business in
the canning industry.

   The large stone fire-proof building on Ridge Road East, used for so many
years as a wine cellar by the Dubelbeiss family, is now used as a show room for
the Miller Ford Company.

MILK BUSINESS

   Between 1880 and 1900, Irondequoit was the main source of milk supply to the
greater part of Rochester on the east side. In that period there were as high as
60 dealers who produced milk on a large scale, and about 10 to 15 others who
bought and peddled milk. In all there were 75 wagons delivering milk to
Rochester customers. Milk sold for 5c a quart in summer and 6c in winter.

   There was a time when some producers were accused of "watering" their milk.
Thus, milk inspectors were hired to test the milk and if the required strength
was not found, the dealer was notified to appear in court and was fined.

   Sanitary conditions were often neglected. Refrigeration was unknown.
Sometimes big cans of milk were cooled by standing them in a watering trough.
There were no milking machines at that time.

  Before the present bottle was invented, milk was dispensed from a can holding
several gallons. This can was carried from the milk wagon, or sleigh, if it was
winter time, to the back door of a home and ladled by means of a long-handled
dipper into the receptacle furnished by the house wife. This quart ladle was
left inside the can with the cover closed tight while moving from house to house.

   Tickets were sold in quantities of from 10 to 100, each marked 1 quart. Each
morning the milkman found, beside the receptacle for the milk, the number of
quarts required that day, unless there was a standing order for a certain amount
each day.

   In winter when the roads were blocked for weeks at a time because of stormy,
zero weather and snow drifts completely filled the road, the milkman's task was
anything but an easy one. Sometimes the sleigh would tip over, and if the covers
of the cans were not on tight, milk was lost in the snow. Leaving very early in
the morning, hopping on and off a wagon for hours, carrying heavy cans, was a
hard day's work, but some followed this life year after year. Mr. Isaac Buyck
was one who boasted of 27 years without missing a day.

GARDENING AND FRUIT FARMING

   The real settlement of Irondequoit began about 1800. Before that time, the
land here was not much of a temptation to farmers. This land, bounded on three
sides by water, with numerous bays, indentations, and much marsh land, seemed
only for the hunter and the trapper. It was no light task for these hardy
pioneers to clear the timber, off the land with the primitive tools they had. In
those days when men were chopping farms out of the wilderness, the one question
of greatest importance was: How could they live for the first two or three
years, from the resources provided? Land must be purchased, timber cleared,
house built and seed sown. Wheat was the usual crop, with a few vegetables for
the table.

   The earliest settlers came from Vermont. Oliver Culver, Jesse Case, Jesse
Taintor and Samuel Spafford were among the first. Some of them brought their
families. Within the next two years, others came-Elmer Reynolds and John Culver,
a brother of Oliver. Ransford Perrin came in 1805. Adonijah Green settled here
in 1810 and was for many years a leading man in the town. Other early settlers,
about 1815, included Abner Wakelee, Abel Dens-more, Joseph Leggett, Isaac and
James Waring, Henry Case, Samuel Kniffin, Reuben Hickok, Petit Loder, Patrick
Dickinson, A. M. Guff, Archibald and Jerry Hoffman and others whose names are
now lost. Many of these names may be found today on the old tombstones of Hooker
Cemetery.

   For the most part, these men all settled in the southern part of the town.
The portions north of the Ridge were all forest-covered and too swampy for
farming. Malaria, better known as "Genesee Fever", was prevalent and some of the
early comers became discouraged with the poor soil and moved farther west into
Ohio. Those who stayed, however, soon found ways of draining the marsh land.
They discovered that by using better plows they could stir up the subsoil, and,
mixing it with topsoil, produce abundant crops. It later developed that
Irondequoit possessed some of the most fertile and productive soil to be found
in the whole Genesee Country and became one of the finest gardening centers of
Monroe County.

   The few early comers to take up land north of the Ridge Road in Irondequoit
chose wheat for their first crop for two good reasons: they needed this
essential food and Rochester mills were not too far away. Thus, Irondequoit in
those days helped Rochester to become the "Flour City." Vineyards and fruit
orchards were also planted by these early residents, especially by those who
could afford to buy large farms. Several bought as many as 100 acres and one
family purchased over 800 acres. Apple, peach, pear, cherry, and occasionally a
prune orchard, were planted all over the area. However, of the 235 farms owned
in 1869 (the earliest year for which such records are available) over half were
of less than fifty acres, an indication of the relatively small plots which have
always characterized Irondequoit gardening and which necessitated the
"intensive" farming for which this area was once known.

    The earliest gardeners came from England, and to them belongs the credit for
fine outdoor gardening. They raised such spring vegetables as spinach, lettuce,
beets, onions and radishes; summer crops consisted of potatoes, asparagus, peas,
beans, corn, tomatoes and cucumbers; popular fall crops were squash, parsnips,
turnips and celery.

   Good seeds have always been important to gardeners here. Some even
specialized in growing seeds for wholesale seed houses both in Rochester and
distant parts of the country. One gardener still supplies seeds for a firm in
Colorado and has sent them as far afield as Labrador.

   In the early days, many acres were devoted to celery. The small plants were
raised, sometimes in hot beds if forcing was required and then transplanted
about the middle of June. Young boys and girls were hired to drop the plants, at
a certain number of inches apart, for the gardeners who followed and set them in
the ground. The crop was ready for harvesting before frosts were due but still
had to be bleached. This was done by packing it in root houses, built after the
style of greenhouses but smaller in size and usually with a sod roof. After
working all day in the fields digging the celery, long evenings were spent, with
the light of kerosene lanterns, in packing it away. Later, gardeners dug
trenches in the fields where celery had grown and packed it away there to be
left to bleach. Other fall crops such as turnips and parsnips were stored in the
same manner during the winter months.

   While vegetables grown here have never had to take a "back seat" for any
grown elsewhere, the products for which Irondequoit has long been most famous,
both at home and abroad, are its melons and peaches. Mr. William Sutton was the
first to produce the Irondequoit melon, but many following him improved upon the
variety and produced the ones much sought after by connoisseurs everywhere. Mr.
Hiram Pardee is said to have produced the first commercial crop of peaches, but
his little orchard was just the forerunner of the hundreds of acres of peaches
grown here since that time. It is hard to tell who was entitled to be called the
"Peach King." Several have been so called at one time or another and no doubt
each has merited it. The largest peach orchard was one of 70 acres containing
8000 trees and located on the Rogers farm, where now hundreds of houses are built.
38

    About 1900, irrigation was installed by some of the gardeners to assure
better crops, especially during a dry season. Early surface methods of watering
were soon replaced by "Skinner" irrigation, a system utilizing overhead pipes
into which water is pumped and forced through small holes to descend in a fine
spray as the pipes rotate. Still later methods have been found more effective.

   There was rivalry among the growers as to who would have the first crop of
certain vegetables or fruit on the market, for the "early bird" usually got the
"worm" in the high price for his work. Rochester's Liberty Pole was for many
years the public market place where Irondequoit growers took their produce to be
sold. For thirty years, this famous landmark stood on the hill at the west
corner of Main and Franklin streets. It was 101 feet tall, three feet in
diameter and was surmounted by a brass ball and an arrow weathervane. On its
lower reaches were blocks for climbing the wooden shaft.

   The Liberty Pole was raised on the eve of July 4, 1859 and was thus for many
years the scene of Independence celebrations. During the Civil War, the flag
waving atop the pole told of every Union victory. It waved at half mast on
Memorial Days.

   The Liberty Pole became a Main Street fixture and the whole triangle of Main,
Franklin and North Streets took its name. Across the street on the present
McCurdy store site was the Farmers' Hotel and country people used to say, "I'll
meet you at the Liberty Pole." None dreamed but that the sturdy landmark would
last forever. But on the morning of December 26, 1889, a 72-mile-an-hour gale
swayed the pole dangerously and before firemen could secure it to a nearby
building, with ropes, it cracked in two and the top came crashing into Main St.
No one was injured, but the toppling pole just missed the carriage of Mr.
Lindsay of the Sibley, Lindsay and Curr Company.

   For months the stump remained and a coin box was placed on it for donations
for a new pole. However, no firm would make a steel pole of the old dimensions,
so the idea was abandoned and the stump ultimately removed. An inscribed bronze
plate was placed at the site, by the Society for the Preservation of Historic
Landmarks. This was set in the pavement because a city street-widening project
had shaved off the old right-angle junction of Main and Franklin Streets. One
morning the marker was missing. It had been ripped from the pavement and no one
knows what became of it.

   Three days each week-Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday- were market days at the
Liberty Pole. The men left their homes with their loads of vegetables and fruit
early the night before, so as to secure a good stand near the Pole for business
the next morning. Wagons were strewn along the side streets for several blocks.
It is not easy to try to sleep on a wagon seat, rolled up in a blanket from ten
o'clock in the evening until four or five o'clock the next morning, but the man
could not leave his wagon because his produce and horses needed protection.

   Finally, congested traffic in this area called for something to be done, and
in 1910 the city named a commission to find land for a public market. The
Moulson property on Union Street was chosen largely because of its extent and
its proximity to the railroad. This Union Street market (Rochester Public
Market) is still in operation although the new Genesee Valley Regional Market on
Jefferson Road was opened in October of 1956 to take advantage of the extensive
trucking business using the New York State Thru-way. This development in
trucking has also relieved many gardeners of taking their produce to market, for
huge trucks come regularly, from near and far, to collect their plants and
vegetables for re-sale in various parts of the Northeastern states.

   Some of the growers in Irondequoit today are of the fourth and fifth
generation of their families in this business. They have known many changes
throughout the years. Very few of the fine vegetable gardens and fruit orchards
are still left because the moving of the "city folks" to the suburbs has changed
all that, but the lovely flower gardens and the velvety lawns about these many
new homes still attest to the richness of Irondequoit soil. Irondequoit is not
now the garden spot it once was, but it has made a name for itself in that field
that will never be erased.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

IRONDEQUOIT STORY
A History of the Town of Irondequoit
(Suburb of Rochester, County of Monroe, State of New York)
COVERING THE YEARS 1839-1957
Collected and Compiled
by
MAUDE I. WEST, Town Historian

Published by The Town of Irondequoit


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.org/ny/monroe/history/1957/irondequ/backgrou6ms.txt
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