Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York in the 1810s

Work

Creek power and farms

Daily work centered on land-clearing, farming, and water power: a flouring mill was running by 1810 or 1811², and a carding mill followed in 1812². A short-lived cotton mill appeared about 1817², showing ambition beyond subsistence.

Faith

Congregations before churches

Twelve settlers formed a covenant at Asa French’s home on West Hill in September 1810³. The group became the Pomfret Religious Society in 1811³, but worship still used borrowed spaces; Cushing’s barn remained the largest religious assembly place² nearby as late as 1820.

Law & power

Town meeting government

This was not yet an incorporated village, so local authority lay in town officers and leading householders: formal village incorporation had not happened¹. The wider town’s first meeting chose Philo Orton as supervisor² in 1808.

In the air

What to call home

The argument that survives most clearly is the naming of the place: Canadaway became Fredonia in local use¹. The change was public enough that the postmaster sought recognition, and Washington confirmed the post-office name change on January 2, 1817¹.

What people feared

War on the lake

The War of 1812 was not remote here: the first naval skirmish of the war occurred at Canadaway Creek’s mouth⁵. In 1813 the war became personal for the settlement when Abner Williams died in the Battle of Lake Erie³.

Home & table

Clearings, school, commons

A newcomer sees a raw landscape: in 1808 there were only a few cleared acres and paths through forest³. Schooling took institutional shape when Barker built a plank schoolhouse on the northern edge of the common³ late in 1812.

Money

Little cash, much credit

Lots depended on land-company paperwork; Barker’s Holland Land Company deed in 1812³ let him sell village lots. Cash remained scarce in the wider region, where many mechanics reportedly saw less than five dollars cash in a year².

Roads & news

Post, papers, roads

Letters came through a local office from May 6, 1809¹, though it was named Pomfret. Printed news arrived locally when the Chautauque Gazette began in Fredonia on January 7, 1817^1,6, and road improvement was being imagined in a turnpike petition to Canadaway Village¹.

Year by year

1. 1810Twelve settlers entered a Christian covenant at Asa French’s West Hill home. here³
2. 1811Chautauqua County government was established, with Pomfret one of its two original towns. nearby⁴
3. 1812The United States declared war on Britain, putting Lake Erie and the Niagara frontier into wartime conversation here. the country
4. 1812Barker received his Holland Land Company deed and began selling house and business lots around the common. here³
5. 1813Abner Williams of Canadaway died in the Battle of Lake Erie. here³
6. 1815Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, news that traveled through American newspapers into western New York. the world
7. 1817Fredonia replaced Pomfret as the post-office name and Chautauque Gazette began printing in the village. here^1,6
8. 1819The Panic of 1819 began a national credit contraction that mattered in a cash-poor land-company settlement. the country²

Pictures from the time

What the sources say

• The settlement at the modern coordinates of Fredonia was known as Canadaway, or Canadawa, until local use shifted to Fredonia in 1816–1817. from the sources¹
• There was no incorporated village here in the 1810s; formal incorporation came later, in 1829. from the sources¹
• The post office actually in Canadaway opened on May 6, 1809, but it was named Pomfret. from the sources¹
• Postmaster Jacob Houghton received federal confirmation on January 2, 1817, that the Pomfret post office name had been changed to Fredonia. from the sources¹
• The town of Pomfret was drained chiefly by Canadaway Creek, which ran north and northwest to Lake Erie about two miles above Dunkirk. from the sources²
• A flouring mill was operating on Canadaway Creek by 1810 or 1811. from the sources²
• Ebenezer Eaton built a carding mill in Pomfret in 1812, letting farm families have wool prepared for spinning. from the sources²
• Thomas Bull built a cotton mill about 1817, but it soon burned down. from the sources²
• In 1808 there were only a few cleared acres near the village and no roads except forest paths marked by trees. from the sources³
• Hezekiah Barker received his deed from the Holland Land Company on November 12, 1812, allowing him to sell house and business lots around the common. from the sources³
• Barker had hired Israel Lewis in 1808 to clear the common of trees. from the sources³
• Late in 1812 Barker built a plank schoolhouse on the northern edge of the common, using lumber from his sawmill above the west bridge on Canadaway Creek. from the sources³
• The West Hill Common was dedicated to public use about 1814, as the west side tried to be regarded as the village center. from the sources³
• The first town meeting of Pomfret was held in 1808 at Elisha Manus’s house, and Philo Orton was chosen supervisor. from the sources²
• Chautauqua County government was established in February 1811 after the 1810 tax rolls showed more than 500 taxable inhabitants. from the sources⁴
• Mayville was selected as the county seat, and the first county courthouse and jail were built between 1812 and 1815, with the War of 1812 slowing the work. from the sources⁴
• In 1811 Chautauqua County had only two towns, Pomfret and Chautauque. from the sources⁴
• A group of twelve settlers met at Asa French’s home on West Hill in September 1810 and entered into a Christian covenant. from the sources³
• That congregation incorporated in 1811 as the Pomfret Religious Society and reincorporated in December 1819 as the First Presbyterian Society of Pomfret. from the sources³
• As late as 1820, Cushing’s barn was the largest convenient place for religious assembly in northern Chautauqua. from the sources²
• The War of 1812 touched Canadaway directly: Abner Williams of the community died in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. from the sources³
• The first naval skirmish of the War of 1812 occurred at the mouth of Canadaway Creek in Chautauqua County. from the sources⁵
• The Chautauque Gazette began publication at Fredonia on January 7, 1817, giving the village the county’s first newspaper. from the sources^1,6
• By late 1816, Buffalo newspapers still referred to the place as Canadaway Village while mentioning a new J. & R. Plumb grocery store and a petition for a turnpike road to the village. from the sources¹
• Cash was scarce in early western New York; even in the early 1820s, many mechanics in the region reportedly did not receive five dollars in cash in a whole year. from the sources²
• No online source opened here gives a reliable count of Canadaway village residents during the 1810s, as distinct from the wider town of Pomfret. not known

Sources

1. Naming the Village of Fredonia. Chautauqua County, NY
2. History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People, Volume I. LDSGenealogy transcription, 1921
3. Early School Houses of Fredonia, 1807–1907. Chautauqua County, NY
4. County Historian. Chautauqua County, NY
5. History. Chautauqua County, NY
6. History of Chautauqua County, New York. NYGenWeb transcription of 1881 atlas history, 1881

Nearby, about the same time